


Fresh Out of Water

by SecretScribbles



Series: Fish Tales [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Blood, Capturing, Completed, F/F, F/M, Fish Tales, Fresh Out of Water, Hurt/Comfort, I want to post them first though, I'll have more pairings in the future, M/M, Merman!AU, Multi, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Other, Poachers, Poisoning, animal instinct, aquatic hospital, courting, general fluff and goofiness, guess it's not all fluff oops, i guess, jeanmarco, non-binary hanji, slow burn?, we'll go with yes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-04
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2018-10-14 17:24:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 47,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10541100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SecretScribbles/pseuds/SecretScribbles
Summary: Wild mer don't take kindly to captivity or the poachers that hunt them down. So when a wild mer is suddenly thrown into the human world, things don't really work out in his favor. Luckily enough, the Shingeki Aquatic Hospital-slash-Aquarium comes to the rescue, but even then, recovery is one big ride, and all this little mer wants to do is go home.





	1. Rescue

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING:  
> The story starts out with the Mer's accident and rescue and goes into detail about how he's not able to breathe. There's also blood and aggression, please make sure to take care of yourself when reading. I promise this will be a cute story :)

 

  
  


**-Chapter 1: Rescue-**

 

10:04am. Emergency rescue.

 

They got the call about a car accident that had happened between a truck and a mini-van over on Jean-Luc street; way too far away from the aquarium, in Levi’s opinion. He himself was unconcerned about the matter until it was reported that the truck had dropped a mer in the collision before driving off. Now it was alone, drying in the sun, and fighting off anyone who tried to come near it. With the rising heat and lack of water, it wouldn’t last long at all.

 

The team rallied together as fast as they could, expecting the worst but hoping for the best. As soon as the van pulled up, though, they could already tell this rescue would not be easy. Debris from the wreck had scattered with the water that had rushed out from the truck bed, and the mini van- along with the family that owned it- was stuck in the middle of the road surrounded by firetrucks and policemen, complete with flashing lights and chirps. Stranded on the side of the road, was the mer who had lived through it all. 

 

It was a male, and although he was clearly wounded, his powerful tail kept the humans who were trying to help away. What was once most likely a beautiful, silvery-blue sheen had dulled to a grey as the mer struggled on the ground, and the red fins splayed out along the mud were equally as dim. The sun had already burned his skin considerably alongside the road rash and bruising across his shoulders and hips. Blood dripped from a head wound and down over split lips gasping for breath, and loose scales scattered across the road and sidewalk, spreading farther each and every time the mer whipped his tail around. 

 

He was struggling, unable to keep his eyes on the humans surrounding him and scrambling closer to a powerful sprinkler system watering some company’s lawn. His gills fought for purchase and his breathing was raspy and harsh from his mouth, panting with effort. He wasn’t going to last long.

 

A policeman stepped up to Levi and the crew as they jumped out of the van, relief evident on his face. “Thank God you’re here; this whole situation is a nightmare.”

 

“Get those people out of there, and shut off those lights,” Levi barked, still walking with his team. “Scaring him won’t help anything.” The officer immediately called the other policemen and firefighters to pull back, not even questioning Levi while still matching his pace. “You the guy who called?”

 

“Yes, sir, Officer Kirstein at your service.”

 

“Then we’re going to need your help getting the crowds under control.” Levi threw a thumb over his shoulder to the upcoming news van driving up the road. Officer Kirstein nodded and walked off at once to order his team. Levi liked him already. “Eren, Armin, what have you got?”

 

“Young male, ranging anywhere from eighteen to twenty-four years old,” Armin said, watching the mer flail from afar. “Fully matured tail, currently ready for combat. Coloring indicates salt water.”

 

“Which we’ve got plenty of in the van,” Eren said. “Highly agitated, obvious head trauma, dehydration, paranoia, delirium-”

 

“Stop stating the obvious,” Levi snapped.

 

“Long story short; with how freaked out he is right now, we’re not getting anywhere near him with that tail in the way. Tranqs are the way to go.” Eren was already heading back to the van to grab the tranquilizer gun as he spoke, leaving the other two behind.

 

“Wait!” Armin pointed to the mer crawling closer still to the sprinkler. “There’s blood and bruising on the ribs under his arm.”

 

“Ah, Hell,” Eren hissed.

 

“Poachers,” Levi agreed. “Skip the drugs. Who knows how much they shot in him.”

 

“That would definitely help explain his anxiety level,” Mikasa said, finally walking up with several towels in her arms. “He's most likely wild. Strange humans, bright lights, loud noises; this situation would be stressful on anyone, let alone a drugged mer.”

 

“Then let’s make sure he gets used to us pretty quick,” Levi said. “Let’s get this guy in our pool.”

 

After a quick conversation with the fire chief, her fighters worked out a hose from the truck to spray into the sky, causing a layer of water to fall over the mer. The sudden rain washing over him caused the mer to settle, and gratefully gasp in air as his gills and scales were coated with a thin veil of water. While he was occupied with that, the rest of Levi’s team set to work.

 

Each member took a towel from Mikasa and slowly advanced closer to the mer, making clicking and shushing noises the closer they came. The mer slapped his tail wildly in vain, unable to see each member clearly through his spinning vision. Armin could see his swimming eyes rolling around in efforts to make sense of the situation, but the more confused he became, the more dangerous the mer made himself to be. 

 

The mer gasped and struggled and fought, but his exhaustion was evident. He wriggled closer to the sprinkler, desperate to have it’s spray land over his dulling scales alongside the firemen’s rain, but it wasn’t enough. His head became to heavy to lift, and it plopped down to the ground with a vicious snarl. It was only Armin, who was close enough to see how tired and scared he really  was. 

 

They locked eyes with one another, the mer still gasping for breath as Armin slowly stepped toward him. Armin quickly noticed how swollen the mer’s gills and throat were and pondered the possibility that this was the reason he hadn’t spoken yet. Armin whispered to him, softly assuring his safety, but the fear was still hidden deep within the mer’s angry eyes. He knew he was going to lose this fight. 

 

With his attention on Armin and the strength leaving his body, the mer didn’t realize how closely Eren had come, and instantly shot up once Eren’s body flung over his tail to wrap it in the towel. An unearthly screech wailed out of the mer as he struggled to rid himself of the troublesome man, but the others were quick to wrap his arms and torso down as well, leaving Armin to cover his face with the last towel. He seemed to settle some when more water was poured over the towels on his upper body, but struggled once again as they lifted him carefully to the van.

 

The surrounding audience applauded the team for their quick rescue, and the news crew made sure to film the heroes as they loaded the injured mer into the vehicle and sped off. Inside the van, however, was another story. The mer screamed and flailed and scratched whatever he could, deciding not to go down without a fight. He had managed to grab a fistful of Mikasa’s hair and nearly yanked it out before they somehow handled strapping him down to a stretcher. The towels stayed in place over his torso and face while the team soaked him in water, but still, he struggled to breathe, and gasped painfully for air.

 

“He’s been out too long,” Levi snarls. “He needs to get in the pool,  _ now _ !”

 

As soon as the van pulls up to the aquarium, they waste no time in unloading their newest patient and rush him inside. Eren races ahead and jumps into the pool, startling the other mer being treated on the other side of the room. With a new set of eyes on him through the glass, Eren waves away the second mer to swim up towards the surface and stands up on the underwater platform next to the edge, already holding his arms out to receive the stretcher and carefully lower the mer down.

 

“Easy, big guy,” Eren hushes. “You’re going to be alright.”

 

The mer doesn’t listen. He struggles weakly against the straps digging into his flesh, and his tail flops helplessly over the end of the stretcher as they work together to lower him into the pool. His breathing is still loud and painful, making the team cringe at the sound. A sigh of relief rounds them as their patient is lowered into the water, but that relief was soon squashed out with the intensified struggling of the mer.

 

His gills flapped uselessly as his skin swelled around them, and even with the towels removed, the mer looked to be having difficulty accepting the water and oxygen into his body. His eyes rolled back, gasping for air but failing, and it was clear that he was only getting weaker by the second.

 

“I don’t understand!” Armin fell to his knees to lean over and steady the mer. “He should be able to breathe n-”

 

A great bang snapped Armin’s attention to the second mer across the room. Their resident Spotted mer slammed himself against the tank, punching and hitting the glass as hard as he could and screaming to them. The rest of the team ignored him, yelling at him to calm down while they focused their efforts on settling the new mer, but Armin knew better.

 

The spotted mer continued to hit the glass until he realized the others were ignoring him, then promptly swam straight up into the heavy, padded tarp platform over the top of his tank. He hit it so hard that it rattled against the rim, and Armin knew that he would stop at nothing to get the new mer out of the water.

 

“Get him out,” Armin ordered. “Get him out, right now!”

 

“Armin, are you-”

 

“Just do it!” Armin ran away from the team and towards the vibrating tank. The banging stopped once Armin began rattling the lock over the cover, and worked quickly to try and shove it out of the way. “Over here!”

 

The team looked to Armin with concern, but the look in his eye was something they had learned not to question, and the mer in their stretcher was dwindling fast. Levi cursed when Mikasa left  to help Armin shove the heavy cover off while Eren and Levi carried the dying mer over and up the stairs to the other tank’s platform. As soon as the cover was partially removed, the spotted mer shot up and glared at the humans with wide eyes. 

 

“Give him to me!” The team pulled back to keep the sick mer out of danger, but the spotted mer was too quick for them. He swiped at the stretcher, cutting the tarp along the bottom of it with his claws and releasing the limp body into his arms. In an instant, he dragged the mer into his pool and swam away deep down into his murky waters, leaving nothing but bubbles and ripples in his wake. 

 

“Marco!” 

 

“Give him back!”

 

“You’re going to kill him!”

 

The team screamed at him all at once and rushed up to dive after him, but Armin held up a hand. “Wait-”

 

Slowly, the bubbles grew larger as they came to the surface. Marco’s head popped up, then the new mer’s coughing harshly, but breathing. Air entered his lungs willingly, and his swollen gills finally had a purpose in the water. He lay limply in Marco’s arms, resting his head back against Marco’s collarbone and trying to keep his eyes open, but fatigue and pain kept him floundering on the edge of consciousness. Marco clicked and purred to the mer, whispering to him in their native tongue, until he finally relaxed against Marco’s body and succumbed to sleep.

 

The team looked to the two mer in amazement, stunned into silence. Marco was a special mer; his species endangered and quite rare in the wild. He stayed with the hospital willingly, but with the wide selection of saltwater mer, finding anyone else compatible, or even like him, was a rarity. It was Armin who spoke, breaking through and voicing what everyone else could not.

  
“He’s a freshwater mer.”


	2. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No one knows who this strange mer is or where he's from. All they know is that they need to help him, and Marco is the first to volunteer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What ho? Pray tell, what is this? Two chapters in one day?! *Gasp* SHOCKING.  
> I'm still feeling crummy for not posting anything last month. Enjoy it while it lasts.

 

 

**-Chapter 2: Recovery-**

 

The language barrier usually kept the humans from knowing the mer’s true names. Unless someone could easily click and squeak an exact copy of what it was, it was preferred not to use it. Even the slightest of slips could cause trouble, and more than once, someone had said something rather rude without meaning to. So, the team picked names for each patient that entered their hospital.

 

Their latest patient wound up earning his name from the officer who called in his rescue, and the street he had been found on. That paired with the fact that it was Levi’s turn to pick, he ended up with the name Jean Kirstein.

 

Jean’s treatment happened slowly. For the first day, he lay asleep in Marco’s arms as Marco slowly swam backwards and ran fresh water over his gills, keeping his head above water. Occasionally, he would wake up for a few minutes, but couldn’t last long enough to get a full meal in his stomach before falling right back to sleep. 

 

Marco claimed Jean instantly. He was overly protective of Jean, and would let hardly anyone near him for longer than a few minutes. He was angry at their mistake, but knew that Jean needed their help. 

 

“I wasn’t expecting a freshwater mer to be so bright,” Armin would say. “It was my mistake for assuming he wasn’t because of his scales. Blame me, not the others. They’re only trying to help.”

 

Eventually, Armin was allowed to spread ointment over Jean’s skin for the sun and salt burns, and no matter how much Armin apologized, Marco couldn’t keep the irritation out of his face. The others truly did want to help, though, and Marco knew this. So when Eren offered Marco a foam board to help float Jean around in Marco’s tank the next morning, he accepted it. 

 

Each member was slowly allowed closer to Jean with Marco’s permission. Armin could continue Jean’s treatment for his skin and scales, and even brought medicine to ease the rough coughing Jean would often fall victim to. Mikasa was allowed to bring plants, shrimp and small fish for dinner, and was once allowed to hold Jean’s head up when Marco needed to stretch his arms. 

 

Levi was not allowed near Jean alone. Marco knew just how powerful the tiny, human male was, and his instincts screamed ‘threat.’ Eren and Armin needed Mikasa there as a buffer as well, but it was Levi who raised Marco’s hackles just at the sight of him. Despite how kind he knew Levi could be, Marco simply wouldn’t allow it. Jean was far too fragile and precious to let anything happen to him, and his instincts ruled over reason.

 

Today, Marco needed another break. Mikasa sat cross-legged on the underwater platform as she steadied the foam board and gently held Jean’s head aloft while Marco chased after the last of his dinner and swam out the kinks in his aching muscles. 

 

Marco circled around the edge of his wide tank while spiraling around in tight circles, relishing the feeling of water rushing over him. The sprightly fish was evading him as much as Marco allowed it to, but really, he was just enjoying the chase. He was debating whether or not to cut things short and catch the damn thing when it suddenly switched course. Marco almost ran smack into the side of his tank, but quickly righted himself and followed after his meal. 

 

The sudden challenge was welcome, and he felt the recurring exhilaration all over again with this hunt making him think. It swam erratically, changing course at any split moment and keeping Marco on edge. Finally, it was starting to tire and slow, allowing Marco to catch up but still, the little fish did it's best to evade until suddenly, Marco found himself in his latest breach. 

 

See, the problem with this was that the cover over his tank had been placed there for his own safety, as his kin were highly skilled jumpers. More than once, Marco had accidently jumped out of his tank and hurt himself on the concrete below, but with Jean in his care now, jumping was not an option, and therefor the cover had been temporarily removed. However, Jean was being taken care of, and Marco was free to do as he pleased until he returned; which ended up being Marco accidentally ten feet in the air chasing after a fish. 

 

He didn’t mean to jump; he hadn’t even decided if he wanted to or not, but it happened anyway. His sudden landing splashed Mikasa and Jean with a shower of water, causing a frown to form over Mikasa and not bothering Jean at all in his sleep.

 

“Sorry,” he chuckled, making sure to swallow his bite first. “Didn’t even realize it until I was in the air.”

 

Mikasa said nothing, but cocked a brow. She gently smoothed some of Jean’s bangs over his bandages and wiped away some droplets from his cheek. “Tell me something,” she muttered. “How did you know he was a freshwater mer?”

 

Marco tilted his head in thought as he chewed another bite from his victory. “I just did,” he said, his accent soft. “My instincts were screaming at me, and the fact that he was suffocating didn’t hurt the idea either.”

 

Mikasa nodded silently. If anyone else had been around to watch, they would never have seen a difference in her. The tick in her eye, however, was the one sliver of emotion she could lay bare, and Marco saw it clear as day. She felt guilty for not noticing it sooner, and seeing Jean in so much distress had affected her more than she cared to show.

 

“It’s good that he has you,” she finally says. “We humans can only do so much.”

 

“You're trying though,” Marco comforted. “That counts for something, at least.”  

 

Picking at his fish, Marco felt the distance between he and Jean had gone on long enough, and silently swam closer to Mikasa, barely causing a ripple in the water. She handed Jean back over to Marco, and the spotted mer instantly felt more at ease with Jean back in his arms.

 

For a leader thing, his instincts ordered him to care for such a small being, but as a Marco thing, his heart was the one who told him to care for others. He had  guarded his tribe back home as a hardened warrior, but was always gentle enough for the frylings to come and play with him. This new mer was most certainly not a fryling, but he was considerably smaller than Marco. 

 

Lengthwise, Jean was a few inches shorter, but his build was no match for Marco’s broad shoulders, thick biceps and strong tail that wouldn't quit. Jean had his own muscles, but his were much leaner than what Marco had. Just looking at him now, Marco wondered how Jean hadn't snapped in two during the crash.

 

Still, Marco was grateful that Jean had made it out with only the damage he had sustained. A broken tail could be the end for any mer, no matter the size.

 

Marco moved over to sit next to Mikasa on the underwater platform, still holding onto both Jean and his fish. “Any idea what his kin is?” 

 

Mikasa shook her head. “Armin has been looking non-stop for the last two days, but he hasn't found anything yet. Freshwater mer are rare enough as it is but bright ones?” She shook her head again and sighed out: “There can't be  _ that _ many.”

 

“You would think.” Both Marco and Mikasa turned to find Armin walking up to them with a handful of papers and a smile. “But it turns out there's a lot more mer out there than we expected.”

 

“Any luck?” Mikasa asked, making Armin’s smile widen.

 

“I think I found our guy.” He waited at the bottom of the stairs to Marco’s upper platform before Marco nodded, and allowed Armin into his territory. He quickly climbed up and stepped over to the edge of the upper platform, trying to get as close to the underwater one as he could.

 

“Neona Rainbow,” he finally said. “I can't decide if he's a dwarf breed or not, but I'm positive he's a Rainbowfish.”

 

Mikasa furrowed her brow. “Out here?”

 

Armin nodded. “None of us know when or where Jean was shot and captured but I do know this: they're endangered, and extremely valuable. Those poachers knew what they were after.” He suddenly turned to Marco. “Apparently they're a cousin to your kind, Marco.”

 

Marco looked down to Jean, sleeping peacefully in his arms. “I haven't seen one since I was a fry,” he said softly. “No wonder he's so small.”

 

“The coloring matches up,” Mikasa agreed, reading the papers Armin had given her. “We won't know for sure until he wakes up but, I believe you're right Armin.”

 

“Speak of the devil.” Armin nodded to Jean as he rolled his head back across the foam board and scowled in his fleeting sleep. “I guess we were too loud for him,” Armin said, much more softly. “Sorry.”

 

Marco cradled Jean’s shoulders to keep him steady, allowing him the ability to move however he pleased without falling off the board. His eyes were scrunched up in discomfort, giving the humans a chance to quietly leave the two mer alone for when Jean actually woke up.

 

For a few minutes, Jean struggled in his sleep, and Marco did his best to keep him comfortable. The foam board seemed to cause more trouble than good at this point, so Marco carefully pulled it away and let Jean relax against his chest again. With that now out of the way, Jean nestled back onto Marco’s collarbone and sighed with content before finally fluttering open his eyes. They worked to stay open, but never strayed from Marco once Jean had caught sight of him. 

 

“Hello again,” Marco smiled sweetly, clicking and crooning softly to gently prod Jean back into consciousness. The scowl had softened over Jean’s features, but the frown stayed. When he opened his mouth to speak, an awful, gravely noise escaped before painful coughs took over, and Jean convulsed in a terrible game of ‘find the wound’ because of it.

 

Every bruise, every cut, any gill at all; they all rang out at once as the coughing ravaged his throat. Marco eased Jean as best he could, trying to comfort him through the pain.

 

“You don't have to speak,” Marco whispered. “You're safe here.”

 

Jean looked up to Marco with watery eyes, not convinced. He turned his sights on the two humans below, just outside of Marco’s tank, and his frown deepened.

 

“They won't harm you,” Marco assured. “Truely. They're not like other humans; this is a healing place.” Again, Jean sent a glare to Marco, completely disbelieving of his promises but Marco only smiled softer, and held up what was left of his fish. “Hungry? Just caught it.”

 

Jean’s eyes lightened up with longing, and he slowly reached out to the offered meal. He picked at it with his fingers just as Marco had, and nibbled small pieces as best as his tired body could handle. With each bite, Jean’s body grew heavier against Marco’s chest with fatigue, and sleep was evident in his eyes. Jean fought against it, however, and forced himself to stay awake for at least one measly meal.

 

“May I ask you something?” Marco asked, still speaking softly. Jean looked up to Marco, as though waiting for him to continue while Jean ate. “Forgive me but, we don't know your kin. I am a Spotted mer of the southern tribe, but the small one down there believes that you belong to the Dwarf Neona race.” Jean blinked, still chewing, so Marco went on. “He also said that our kin are similar- I believe he said ‘cousin’ but, that would be ridiculous since we're obviously not related.” 

 

Marco chuckled lightly at this, but Jean found no amusement in this fact. “My question is, is he correct? I haven't seen any Rainbow for quite some time. I'm hoping it's true.”

 

For a few moments, Jean simply stared at Marco, not even eating any longer. He studied Marco, considering whether or not he wanted to give any information to these strange beings,but the kindness in Marco’s eyes could not be replicated no matter how charming one could be, and Jean knew this mer would bring him no harm.

 

Slowly, quietly, Jean finally nodded to Marco, then looked away. Marco’s smile only brightened down to him all the more. “How wonderful,” he said softly. “Thank you.”

 

Jean nodded again, still fighting to keep his eyes open and determined not to fall asleep this time. “You should rest,” Marco said. “You're still healing.”

 

The scowl returned over Jean’s face as he shook his head, then carefully opened his mouth. “Stiff… need to…  move…” 

  
Marco nodded, understanding. “Would you like me to stay close?” Begrudgingly, Jean nodded once more. “Alright then.” Marco carefully pulled Jean away and turned him to hold him at arm's length, allowing him to cling to Marco’s arms with shaky fingers. “We'll take it slow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Momma Marco would make a great nurse. Tell me I'm wrong.
> 
> Also, the majority of my stories are un-betad because live dangerously. So. You have been warned. Enjoy my typos!


	3. Re-evaluate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No matter how big the tank may be, it's not a home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> un-betad once again, go me for laziness :D :'D
> 
> I had already planned and written this out when people asked me about the tank they were staying in and I just wanted to give you an idea of what it looked like. Cylindrical, about 12ft in diameter and 18ft tall, which is why Armin and the gang had to climb stairs to get to the opening of the tank. Think of the healing pools that they used in the movie Dolphin Tail but with glass above the ground instead of concrete.
> 
> Also, any italics is mer speak. Not really in the mood to try and translate squeaks and clicks in my story XD

 

 

**-Chapter 3: Re-evaluate-**

 

Jean took to his recovery like a- well, like a fish to water. His suspicions of the humans were still high, but after a few successful meetings and some prompting from Marco, Jean had learned to accept the help he was given from the team. He recognized Armin from the wreck site when he had come to renew the bandages and ointment over Jean’s wounds, and would frown at him harshly throughout the entire process of getting fixed up. Despite his influenced state, Jean remembered all of them, and the one he had hated out of any of the team members- much to Armin’s relief- was the idiot two-tail who had jumped on top of Jean’s own tail and pinned him down: Eren.

 

The bickering between those two was endless, usually ending with a shouting match or a soaking, wet Eren. More than once, Mikasa had to pull Eren back and warn Jean off to scold the two squabbling beasts for acting like children; a fact that bothered them more than the other’s presence and would efficiently quiet them down. Now, Jean was practicing swimming around the circumference of the tank to strengthen his tail and work off some agitation after a bitter disagreement of what Eren had brought him for lunch. Fresh fish were so much better than dead fish, for sure.

 

Jean tightened his muscles and pushed harder to keep his performance steady. His aching lungs advised him to slow down, but his pride, however, urged him to go faster. Jean surged along, forcing himself to swim with everything he had, pushing himself harder and faster than his limit to certainly regain his strength from before the attack. He never spoke of it, even when the humans asked in order to find his captors. It simply was not something he wished to talk about when he had training to do. 

 

It was after the twelfth lap around the tank when Jean started to get dizzy, and Marco, having sat back and watched it all while he ate, finally swam up alongside him and matched his pace. Jean wouldn’t look at him, stubbornly staring forward as he swayed in the water. His panting was labored, and his vision was spinning, but still, Jean swam on. Marco watched as Jean wobbled in the water before speaking.

 

“Pushing yourself too hard like this will only make it worse, you know,” he said quietly. Jean scoffed.

 

“Lies. I’ll never get better if I don’t.” He paused long enough to scowl at Marco. “I’m not one to sit back and become some human’s pet.”

 

Marco frowned lightly. “If that’s a blow at me then you’re going to have to try harder,” he said. “I’m here for my people. Nothing more. You, on the other hand, are here until you can get back in your own water, and if you continue to push yourself past your breaking point, it’ll only keep you here longer.” 

 

He reached out to nudge Jean’s shoulder to prove his point, and effectively knocked Jean off course. The Neona lost control and spiraled into the wall of the tank, making the glass tremble upon impact. Jean held onto his head to try and stop the spinning, not even noticing how he was slipping to the bottom of the tank until Marco spoke again.

 

“Accepting a little bit of help won’t hurt you,” he said, much softer this time. “All they want to do is get you back home. If you can’t trust them, then trust me.” 

 

Marco held out a hand to Jean, waiting to pull him up off of the floor, but Jean only stared at him. In the time that Jean had known him, Marco had done nothing to warrant his distrust. Everything Marco had ever done, he had done so to benefit Jean, and Jean knew that. Using this knowledge to get Jean to behave himself paired with the ‘barely-even-considered-a-tap’ that threw him off course and into a wall was just plain tricky.

 

“You’re a dirty cheat, you know that?” Jean spat.

 

Marco smiled, still holding his hand out. “An honest, dirty cheat at least.”

 

Jean squinted at Marco, his annoyance fading away the longer he stared at the spotted mer and finally accepting Marco’s hand. “Somehow, you seem to be the only idiot to pull off such a title.”

 

Gentle as he could, Marco lifted Jean up from the floor and swam alongside him. The sight of Levi walking down the hall towards the tank, however, caught Marco’s attention. The spines from his hair and lining down his neck quivered with distaste as he and the human locked eyes with the other, and he had to remind himself that Levi was a friend, despite how powerful he knew the man could be. It took some convincing but Marco managed to shove his hackles down and coax Jean up to the surface with him, making sure to place himself between the Neona and the man.

 

“You gonna swipe at me again?” Levi asked.

 

“Can’t make any promises not to,” Marco answered honestly. “What’s the occasion?”

 

Levi settled back onto the railing outside of Marco’s tank, putting some distance between them. “Comin’ to check on the new kid,” he muttered, flopping his hand listlessly towards Jean. “I figured it might be time for an upgrade if he’s healed enough.”

 

“ _ What’s he talking about? _ ” Jean clicked, not feeling comfortable enough to speak openly in front of Levi just yet. Marco turned his head slightly to squeak back, but kept his front facing the human.

 

“ _ If it’s what I’m thinking, then it’s good news _ .” He turned back to Levi, switching to a language they could share. “It’s up to Jean whether or not you get close to him, but I can’t promise I won’t be civil.”

 

Levi shrugged, looking annoyed. “Mikasa isn’t here right now and that glasses wearing shit-monkey would be a thousand times worse.” He turned his gaze to lock eyes with Marco. “Tell me I’m wrong on that.”

 

Marco shivered at the thought of Hanji- a lovely human being, really- coming in and poking and prodding and pulling and pinching at Jean, making everyone even more uncomfortable as they ask inane questions about Jean’s habitat and lifestyle, or what he ate and how it looked coming out afterward. Again, Hanji was a great person, just in small quantities.

 

The Spotted mer turned back to look at Jean, offering a raised eyebrow in question as to whether or not Levi was allowed to inspect his wounds. Jean, himself, merely rolled his eyes and swam forward, never taking his gaze away from the small human waiting on the outer platform. Levi waited until Jean had plopped himself up onto the underwater platform comfortably, then carefully stepped up to the rim of the tank. Marco bristled as Levi drew further into his territory, but urged his instincts to allow this human inside. He never liked being so territorial or paranoid in the first place but come on. It’s Levi.

 

Marco took a deep breath and blew out bubbles onto the surface of the water just as he sank down nose-deep into it, trying to calm himself and his ridiculous instincts while he watched Levi step onto the underwater platform and begin Jean’s physical. He stayed this way, eyes watching from the surface of the water the entire time Levi gently checked over Jean’s dexterity and closed up wounds. 

 

In retrospect, Jean looked fantastic. Burned and and bruised and scratched and salted; any other mer would have probably died from any of it. Knowing Jean, however, he was just too stubborn to die. The bruises scattered over his body like fading paint, yellow and green and purple alike. His burns were fading and his cuts were scabbing, and even the color was returning in his magnificently, bright tail. All in all, Marco was pleased with the success Jean’s recovery was granting. The sight of a dangerous human near him, however, only made him anxious.

 

His spotted tail swished irritably under the water but Marco held firm, not allowing the animal in him to take over- unless Levi decided to do something stupid. The veterined man did nothing of the sort, of course, but that wouldn’t stop the manic urges Marco wanted. He had grown quite fond of Jean in the short time they’d known each other. He wouldn’t let anything happen.  _ Especially  _ in his territory.

 

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Levi slowly backed away towards the outer platform, never turning away from either mer as he left the tank and slapped his hands dry. “Not bad,” he sighed. “You don’t look like you got shit out by a cheese grater anymore; that’s a plus. I think you’re ready to leave quarantine.”

 

“Quarantine?” Jean blinked, then turned to Marco. “Wait, I was stuck here with you while you were in  _ quarantine _ ?”

 

“I’m not sick,” Marco placated, a little put off. “I was waiting out the cleaning when you dropped in.”

 

Jean cocked a brow, not liking this answer either. “What cleaning?”

 

“Did you really think we left you guys in empty tanks like this to live in?” Levi asked, fairly annoyed. “We don’t have a habitat for you just yet but if Marco is willing, you can share his.”

 

“I have no problems with that,” Marco said, his tail now swishing with excitement. It was his choice to stay in the tank with Jean to help him heal, but the thought of getting out back into his temporary home instead of this cramped tube was exhilarating. “When will the gate open?”

 

Levi didn’t even bother turning to answer. “On it.”

 

Not long after that, mechanics could be heard closer to the wall as a small portion slid aside, and Marco swished his tail excitedly. He quickly swam for it, waiting impatiently for the door to slowly open, when a thought occurred to him. As inconspicuously as shoving someone forward could be, Marco watched with glee as Jean grumbled about the sudden push, but froze at the sight of a tunnel opened up before them.

 

“Well, go on,” Marco urged, not even bothering to hinder his smile. Jean swallowed at the sight of him, then turned to swim through the tunnel Marco had brought him to. It was short, about six feet long and narrow compared to the rest of the tank, but once Jean was on the other side, he stopped in awe.

 

A waterfall fell from several, strategically placed stones piled high around the back edges of the habitat to allow for sunbathing and shade in the water whenever the need for it occurred. The stones followed down into the water for underwater caves and mazes, and surrounded by them all were plants that sprouted from the muddy pebbles below, climbing all the way to the sky. The more he looked, the more Jean realized that everything in this place was real, and felt more like home than the crummy tank ever had. In fact, it looked better than home because it was clean.

 

No oil from boats or cars, no litter from ignorant humans or plastic rings getting caught on someone’s tail, no soggy bread crumbs from snot-nosed little kids trying to “help” the birds eat but really, only made them sick and the water reek of filth. This. This was paradise.

 

Marco’s smile beamed even brighter at the expression Jean was sporting and swam up next to him after letting it all sink in for a moment. “Well,” he said softly. “What do you think?”

 

Jean blinked, still trying to wrap his head around the whole thing. “The water is clean,” he said dumbly. “Like, clean-clean. I haven’t seen it like this in… ever.”

 

“I said the same thing,” Marco chuckled, a little humorless the longer he thought about it. “But, the humans here put a lot of thought into the place. They really do want us comfortable while we stay here.”

 

“And what do they want in return?” Jean snarked, but Marco only smiled.

 

“Our help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I got bored at work one day when I thought this little story up and did some digging. I found that I really liked the idea of Jean being a Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish and Marco was pretty much a Southern Purple-Spotted Gudgeon, especially after I saw the pictures and read about their attitudes. If they don't show up in these notes google some pictures. They're adorable.
> 
> Also, the thing about the birds and the bread is true. If you want to feed the ducks next time you go to the pond, bird seed is a much healthier option not only for the birds, but their environment and neighbors as well. I know. It took me by surprise too. ;]
> 
> Lastly, I have DOODLES! I really hope they post XD
> 
> Someone halp. Please o.o
> 
> http://smitty-mouse.tumblr.com/post/159294830931/so-theres-this-fic-called-fresh-out-of-water-go
> 
> Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish:  
> http://raazebaghaa.ir/imagecenter/images/nwmresot66zuq6lup6e.jpg
> 
> Southern Purple-Spotted Gudgeon:  
> http://www.leisurepro.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Mogurnda-adspersa.jpg


	4. Re-educate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A friend is a valuable thing to have in any world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really need to slow down on this because I'm catching up (OH NO) and I'd like to have at least two chapters ready ahead of posting time. But I just love my fishy babies and have to share them with the world XD

 

**-Chapter 4: Re-educate-**

 

Jean pouted in his new little nook that he had claimed for himself shortly after entering the freshwater habitat. A turtle lazily swam in through the opening of Jean’s nook, not really minding the mer curled up in it until Jean hissed at it and scared it away. This was Jean’s spot. No one else’s.

 

Marco had gone off to the far side of their “home” to the opened arena that proudly broadcast the spotted mer as an attraction to other humans. It made Jean sick just thinking about it. How Marco could actually enjoy communicating with them almost every day was completely unimaginable. They were loud, and stinky, and far more rude than any crocodile Jean had ever encountered. Yet somehow, they managed to have more of Marco’s attention than Jean did. How utterly ridiculous.

 

Jean huffed out a lungful of bubbles and irritably swam out of his hidey hole. The habitat that the two freshwater mer had been given was considerably large for the two of them, a fact that Jean certainly was not complaining about, but without Marco there, the paradise felt… empty. Jean was ten times more interesting than any human without a doubt, and the fact that Marco couldn’t see that on his own was annoying, so Jean had decided to show him.

 

Quietly, Jean swam up and around to the far side of the habitat where Marco was but held back behind a short rock poking out of the water. He crouched behind it, resting his nose on his fingers as the Neona spied on Marco from afar, propped up comfortably on a set of stones and speaking openly with the humans who had gathered together in an auditorium of sorts. Jean snorted at how easily Marco spoke, so relaxed and effortless, even waving his hands around while he explained his hunting habits to a boy who had asked from a microphone in the audience- Marco’s own microphone was wrapped around his head.

 

The boy seemed enamored by the detail Marco used for his stories, growing more excited when it became more dangerous. He smiled brightly at Marco once the spotted mer was finished, and waved as he was escorted back to his seat by the human Jean had learned to be called Hanji. Once the boy was seated again, Hanji turned back to the audience, asking for any other questions and crowing happily when many hands waved up in the air, until a little girl raced right up to them.

 

“Well hi there, little bean,” Hanji bellowed. “You sure seem excited.”

 

The girl, probably three or four, stopped to stare at Hanji, then quickly turned around to look behind her and back again. Seeing that her mother was still trying to wave her back to her seat, the girl suddenly became bashful, but Hanji was having none of that.

 

“Hey now.” Hanji knelt down to the girl’s height and offered a bright smile. “Do you have a question for Marco? He’s really nice.”

 

Marco, having watched the whole scene, beamed at Hanji’s praise and flapped his tail appreciatively. The girl looked between Hanji and Marco, holding her hands close to her face while she pondered her options before finally stepping closer to Hanji with the microphone. Both Hanji and Marco laid it on thickly sweet the closer she got, until she was coaxed enough to pull her fingers out of her mouth long enough to speak.

 

“Where’s your mommy?” she asked meekly, then immediately stuck her fingers back into her mouth. 

 

The spotted mer, if even possible, smiled even more at the girl and folded his hands in his lap. “She’s back home near Australia. That’s where I’m from.”

 

The little girl’s eyes widened to a comical size. “Why? That’s like, like a- a bajillion miles away!”

 

Marco laughed sweetly at her shock, but made sure to give his attention back to the girl. “I’m here to help my people.”

 

The girl became confused. “How?”

 

“Well,” Marco licked his lip with a breath and looked to the ceiling before answering. “A lot of mermaids are going extinct. My people, the Spotted Mer, are some of the mermaids that are endangered as well. If I stay here, then I can help stop that.”

 

Before the little girl could ask him how again, Hanji took the microphone back to speak instead. “Marco helps by telling us how to help take care of the environment and other fish dwellers like him. He also helps the aquarium and his species by making more Spotted Mermaid babies from a girl Spotted Mermaid’s eggs. Well, he will when we find more females. He’ll need a few at least; he doesn’t make babies like humans do.”

 

At this, Marco tilted his head, confused. “Humans don’t have eggs?”

 

“Oh but we do!” Hanji whipped around to Marco excitedly. “Well, the females do, not the males, that would be ridiculous, but we birth babies like whales or dolphins do. You see, once a month the females-”

 

“Uh, actually,” Marco held a hand up to stop Hanji from one of their rants once he noticed how uncomfortable the other humans had become. “Why don’t you tell me about it later?”

 

Hanji cackled. “Right. Silly me; you’ll need pictures.”

 

Marco squinted slightly at them. “I feel like I’ve accepted something terrible.” He shook his head, ignoring the chuckle rounding the room. “No matter.”

 

Hanji chuckled quietly to their person while Marco readjusted his microphone, and turned back towards the audience. They were stopped, however, when the little girl- whom they had quite forgotten- tugged at the hem of Hanji’s uniform. She reached quietly for the microphone again and waited shyly for Hanji to kneel once more.

 

“Does that mean you’re by yourself?” she asked. Marco considered this, then nodded slowly. “Are you lonely?”

 

Marco blinked, a little stunned by her question. His mouth worked open and closed a few times before he finally settled on his answer and spoke slowly. “I was, but… not anymore.” He smiled at her and scooted forward a little. “I have…  a new friend here. So I’m not alone anymore.”

 

The girl blinked as well. “Who is she?”

 

“She is a he,” Marco chuckled. “And his name is Jean.”

 

“Does he make babies with you too?” 

 

The audience chuckled at this, making the girl uncomfortable and close in on herself. Marco only smiled softer to her to try and placate her from his perch on the other side of his habitat.

 

“Jean isn’t a Spotted Mer like I am but he is endangered like me. I’m sure the Neona tribe would benefit if he agreed to help as well. He doesn’t have to stay here and help if he doesn’t want to, but I know it would be a lot more fun if he did.” At this, Marco’s smile dimmed a bit. “Actually, he doesn’t like it here much, so he probably won’t.”

 

The little girl became quite upset at this answer and lifted her hand to the sky to volunteer. “I’ll be your friend!”

 

Again, the audience laughed at her adorable response but this time, the girl didn’t shy away, and kept her hand high in the air to accept her position as ‘mermaid friend.’ Marco’s smile stretched far over his face at this, and leaned forward once more. “What’s your name, little one?”

 

“Rrsuwa.” It was here that her mother finally stood up and clarified that her name was, in fact, Ursula.

 

“Ursula? As in, the sea witch?” Marco’s smile became playful as the girl- Ursula- smiled widely and giggled through a nod. “It’s always good to have a sea witch on your side,” Marco went on. “I think we’ll be great friends.”

 

Ursula squealed in delight before scurrying back up the stairs to her mother, excitedly retelling the woman of how she made a new friend. Meanwhile, another human had walked up after raising her hand for rights to the last question and smiled at Marco.

 

“I’ll be your friend too,” she said quietly, joking lightly. Marco chuckled along with her, folding his hands in his lap again to wait for her question. “So, where’s your friend John?”

 

“Jean?” Marco perked up a split second before shifting on his perch and settling back down. “Well, he’s still recovering from his accident.”

 

Hanji snickered deviously. “No he’s not, he’s just shy.”

 

“I AM NOT!”

  
The entire audience, including Marco and Hanji all turned to find Jean who had jumped up from the water and propped straight up on his arms over the stone he had been hiding behind for his outburst. Jean, at this point, realized that he was honestly and truly fucked. He quickly swirled around to dive under the water and swim away, back to his hidey hole to forget that this had ever happened and burning with rage at the sound of the humans laughing at his quick and tactical retreat.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: it was Hanji who showed Marco The Little Mermaid. 
> 
> "This isn't right at all!"  
> "Marco, it's make-believe."  
> "Your make-believe is WRONG!"  
> "It's meant for children."  
> "WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN TEACHING THEM?!"
> 
> It didn't end well.


	5. Revitalize

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An embarrassed Jean can only lead to trouble; unless Marco can show him something to take his mind off of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't stay away from you guys too long, here, have some mer-boys.

 

 

**-Chapter 5: Revitalize-**

 

The nook was practically half air by now as it was filled with irritable bubbles being huffed out by Jean. Not even five minutes had passed and he could already hear Marco swimming around, calling out to him. He didn’t need coddling. He wasn’t a fryling. 

 

When Marco poked his head into the mouth of the nook, Jean hissed at him and puffed out his gills. Instinctually, Marco wanted to puff up and bare his teeth as well, seeing as this was his territory in the first place, but held back to remind himself that Jean lived here now too. The spotted mer flattened his gills and retracted his fangs, then scooted back out from passing the entrance of the nook but held a firm gaze with Jean, not completely giving up on his dominance.

 

“Are you alright?” Marco asked in a deep voice.

 

“Why do you even trust them anyway?” Jean spat. “This whole ‘saving my people’ shark-shit is just a ploy to keep you in a tank. The humans have no interest in helping us; that’s not what they do. Have you even seen another female since you’ve been locked up here?”

 

“Well, no, not in person,” Marco said quietly.

 

“‘Not in person’,” Jean scoffed. “And how long have you been here?” 

 

“Long enough.” His answer was controlled, but Jean was wild with irritation.

 

“So why do you really think we’ll ever get out of here?” Jean was practically snarling. “And why did you voluntarily lock yourself up to be a stupid pet?”

 

Marco waited for Jean to flatten his gills and calm down some, but the longer he waited, the more he realized that Jean’s temper would not fade away so easily. Instead, more bubbles filled the nook they stayed in, and Marco hovered silently watching from outside. Finally, Jean grew annoyed enough to turn his head away from Marco to stew in his own hatred, done with the argument entirely since Marco wasn’t speaking.

 

Silently, Marco drew closer to the lip of the nook to rest his arms down on it, feeling the sting of Jean’s eyes on him if he even tried to come in, but Marco simply crossed his arms over the stone and continued to speak softly. “My home used to have hundreds of merfolk all over the place. Lately though, there have only been a few dozen at best.”

 

Jean seethed at this. “Let me guess: because of humans.”

 

“Yes.” The control never left his voice. “But it’s also because of humans that my people still exist. The aquarium made my home waters untouchable. Humans can no longer fish in my waters; can’t swim, can’t contaminate, can’t even boat through them if only to keep their oil out. And the more humans I talk to, the more I can tell them how not to destroy our home- all because of the aquarium. My people are safe and thriving because of them. I want it to stay that way. So. Here I am.”

 

The scowl deepened over Jean’s face as he curled further into himself. “How do you know that; they haven’t possible let you leave.”

 

“No,” Marco answered. “But I’ve seen it.”

 

This grabbed Jean’s attention, and he steeled and eye to look Marco over, unconvinced. “You’ve seen it but haven’t been there.” Marco nodded. “Impossible.”

 

Marco straightened up on his arms against the lip of the nook, never taking his eyes away from Jean. “Would you like to see?”

 

Before Jean could even think of his answer, Marco was turning away and swimming off. The curiosity nagging at the back of his skull kept Jean from sitting stubbornly in his nook to pout and quietly grumbled after him. They swam silently back towards the quarantine tank, and Jean hesitated unwittingly at the entrance before swimming in after Marco, who had waved down Eren through the glass.

 

Without a word, Eren climbed up the stairs on the side of Marco’s tank and unlocked the cover over the platform. With how hard it was for Mikasa and Armin to shove it off before, it was a little unnerving to see how easily Eren slid the tarp aside.

 

“What’s up?” he asked, not even out of breath.

 

“I’d like to see my family, please.” Was all Marco said.

 

“Sure,” Eren nodded, then walked off. 

 

Jean kept his nose to the water, still blowing the occasional bubble while he waited with Marco for his family to return. The idea of having Marco’s entire family locked away inside of a tank like this was… heartbreaking. It made a few more bubbles pop out of Jean’s gills just thinking about it. So when Eren came back with a skinny, black box, the irritated bubbles turned into the equivalent of a hot tub jet stream.

 

“What’s your problem, Kirstein?” Eren griped, but settled on the platform anyway. Jean would have retorted if Marco hadn’t given him a warning look. With the glare out of the way, Marco scooted up along the underwater platform until he was pressed close to the wall of the tank next to Eren, who was fiddling with the black box. “I texted Erd to let him know so he went off to find them but, the live stream is still going if you want to get a look around.”

 

Jean begrudgingly scooted up next to Marco and sniffed at the box Eren was handling. It smelled awful, burnt and plasticy and most certainly  _ manmade _ . Jean didn’t like this box one bit. When Eren turned it around, however, the other side of the box was completely new. 

 

Plants stuck straight out of the water in an area that looked to be mostly green, tan and brown- aside from the sprouts, of course. The color, much to Jean’s surprise, was actually healthy for the landscape, and from the corner of the picture, he could see a crab walking into the box. Jean reached forward to catch it, missing the taste of live meat when his fingers were stopped by the flat of the box. He frowned and tried again, growing more irritated by the snickering going on around him and the fact that the crab was not in his possession.

 

Suddenly, water splashed up from the box and the crab was snatched up by the jaws of a crocodile, causing Eren to laugh, the two mer to jump back, and Jean to swim away. The Neona sped off towards the habitat, knowing hiding for now would be his best bet for safety. Crocodiles were no joke when it came to their food. He looked over his shoulder to make sure Marco was following, but the spotted mer was still sitting in the same place: far too close to the crocodile.

 

Without another thought, Jean swam back as fast as he could to rescue his friend. He burst from the water, flaring his gills and baring his fangs to scare off his attacker, but only found Eren- who, much to Jean’s delight, fell back in surprise and abruptly stopped laughing.

 

“What the hell?!” Eren cried, but Jean was too busy grabbing Marco’s wrist and dragging him away. If they were lucky, the crocodile would eat Eren instead.

 

“ _ Wait! _ ” Marco yanked back on Jean, causing the rest of his body to continue swimming forward while the grip on his wrist stayed back with Marco. “ _ Jean, it’s okay. It’s safe _ .”

 

“ _ Are you crazy?! _ ” Jean clicked right back. “ _ We have no weapons, no protection and I am in no shape to take on a croc at the moment- let’s go! _ ”

 

“Will you settle down?  _ God _ ,” Eren broke up the conversation with an annoyed huff. “It wasn’t real. Well, it was real but it wasn’t here. Everything on the screen is in Australlia.”

 

Jean glared at Eren, not buying his story for a minute but Marco held firm to his wrist and started pulling him back to the box. “It’s called a laptop,” Marco spoke before Jean could protest. “It allows me to see my home from right here. We’re safe from any predators because they’re not here; they’re back home.” 

 

“Look.” Eren fearlessly slapped his hand over the ‘screen’ of the laptop, earning a resounding thunk  instead of the expected splash. “It’s plastic. It’s not really here, but it is there. If that makes sense.”

 

“Nothing you say makes sense because you have none,” Jean snarked, earning a scowl from the human in return.

 

“Jean please,” Marco sighed, then turned back to Eren. “Show him the pictures from before.”

 

Eren still glowered at Jean but moved to the keyboard all the same. After a few clicks and some typing, Eren turned the laptop back around to show Jean a set of pictures that brought a gasp out of him. 

 

Filth and trash covered the area that was clearly Marco’s home, but instead of what Jean had seen before, now the life seemed to be sucked right out of it. The water in this picture was so low and so dark that it almost looked like clay, and the mud surrounding it did no favors to the idea either. The plants and trees drooped over until they were low to the ground, if they even stood upright at all, and the animals- carcasses actually- were strewn about the mud, stuck. 

 

“The drought didn’t help the situation at all,” Marco muttered, placing a comforting hand over Jean’s stiff shoulder. “But there was a university campus not too far away, and the humans who lived there thought my home was a fun place to be. They’d even bring their own pools and fill them up with our water so that ‘the wildlife wouldn’t kill the party.’ That was usually the result after one of their visits.”

 

Rage boiled in Jean’s blood and he quickly turned on Eren. “This was  _ your  _ doing?”

 

Eren scowled right back at him. “Cleaning it up was. Erd and Gunther and everyone else did too, you ungrateful fish.”

 

Marco pressed more of his weight into the touch over Jean’s shoulder to gently coaxed him out of a fight and back to the conversation. “Look- Eren, the camera.” The man leaned over the screen to click instead of turning it again, and instantly, the sight of colorful, spotted mer popped up in the picture that Jean had been looking at before. Alongside them, a blonde man with a ponytail and another with his hair cropped short waved to the screen, smiling gently. Marco smiled and quietly turned back to Eren. “Can I talk to them?”

 

“Sure, one sec.” More clicks, more types, and suddenly, there’s a smaller box of Marco and Jean’s lower half in a picture in the corner, with half of Eren’s head hanging upside down over the top. “Can you hear us over there?”

 

“Hey, Eren,” the blonde man smiled. “What’s your ugly mug doing in the camera?” Oh, Jean liked this man already. “We came to see Marco, scoot over!”

 

“Bite me, ponytail!”

 

“Marco? Marco, are you there?” Another voice, this one female, called out with excitement and a tad touch of fear. “Marco, where are you?”

 

“I’m right here, mother.” Eren moved out of the way from the camera to show all of Marco in the small picture in the corner, while the larger picture with the rest of the mer seemed to light up with glee. “How is everyone?”

 

The mer in the screen squeaked and chirped and clicked all at once, all entirely too happy and all trying to speak to Marco at the same time. Marco clicked right along with them, answering what he could when he could and not once losing his smile. Jean watched, completely entranced by the scene playing before him, and feeling something dark bubble in his gut because of it.

 

“ _ Would you look at that bloke _ ?” One of Marco’s sisters pointed to Jean, suddenly noticing the Neona’s presence. “ _ You didn’t deck it out with that one, did you _ ?”

 

“ _ Of course not _ ,” Marco chuckled. “ _ My friend here ran into some trouble with a truck. He’s staying here until he’s healed up; then he can go home _ .”

 

“Let me guess: some poacher thought you were too pretty to be in the water, didn’t they?” Marco’s aunt tsked. “Some humans, I swear.”

 

“Hey, is that the new mer Levi was talking about?” The crew-cut man asked. 

 

Marco nodded, and clapped a hand over Jean’s shoulder. “This is Jean.”

 

Both the humans and the mer smiled in unison at the introduction of the Neona. Then, just as before, each of the mer tried to speak all at once.

 

“ _ Look at that tail! Are you sure he’s fresh _ ?”

 

“ _ You’re quite a pretty one, aren’t you? Behind all those bruises. _ ”

 

“ _ It’s no wonder someone wanted to hunt you down _ .”

 

“ _ A bit too skinny for my taste but dinner with us can fix that right quick. _ ”

 

“ _ It looks like he might be spoken for already. _ ”

 

“ _ Please _ !” Marco squeaked over everyone, noticing just how stiff Jean had become and was slowly backing away. “ _ There’s really no need to- _ ”

 

“Eren! Get your ass down here now; sea turtle trapped in fishing wire off the East  coast!”

 

“Sorry guys- gotta cut this short!” Eren slammed the laptop closed and bolted after Levi, taking Marco’s family with him.

 

Both mer watched him leave in silence, but soon enough, Jean was watching Marco. The spotted mer looked on to the retreating human long after his image had left around the corner, and the silence radiated off of Marco much louder than anything Jean could ever imagine. Suddenly, that bubbling in the pit of Jean’s stomach turned sour. It was hard to be jealous of someone who had their everything taken away from them.

 

Like flipping a switch, Marco snapped out of the quiet somber he had fallen into and turned a controlled smile to Jean. “Guess we’ll try again later.”

 

Jean frowned, not liking the mood at all. “Why don’t you go back?”

 

Hesitation, then a sigh, and Marco gave up trying to play happy. “We’re all that’s left of the Southern Tribe,” he muttered. “We tried raising frylings before it was just us but the conditions over there aren’t conducive to healthy children.” Something dark flashed behind his eyes as a memory chilled his spine. “Full grown mer could barely handle those waters, let alone newborns.” 

 

The shiver spread to Jean as realization spread over him, but Marco shook his head, trying a small smile one last time. “Besides, I can’t very well have children with my sisters now can I? I’ll see them again someday, of that I’m sure. But… I kind of like it here too.”

 

The Neona scoffed. “A make-believe habitat can never be a home.”

 

“True,” Marco agreed. “But I wasn’t talking about the habitat.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Marco has so much estrogen in his family that you could probably fill a pool with it. Or two.
> 
>  
> 
> The next bit I have coming up for you ended up being a three part chapter so instead of one REALLY long one, you get three more. I just have to finish the third part before I can post the first XD
> 
> Please be patient with me, I have 'Name of a Witch' going on at the same time (Which yuo should totally read) as well as a full time job and I'm right in the middle of a move so IDK how long I'll be, but I'll try to post soon. 
> 
> *whispers*   
> Help. Me. o.o
> 
> Your comments are my life blood! I love you all!


	6. Reconsider (pt. 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jean has been healed for quite some time now, but something is keeping him from going home, and Levi is getting tired of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thus begins the journey of Jean and his stubbornness X]

 

 

**-Chapter 6: Reconsider (pt. 1)-**

 

“We can’t send you home if we don’t know  _ where  _ home is,” Levi snapped. “You can be stubborn all you want but it’ll only keep you here longer.”

 

Jean hissed at the little man and dived away to go back to his nook. The humans had been pestering him about his home for about a week now, toying with his emotions by dangling his freedom in his face and pulling right back. Jean was trapped here until he would sell out his people. The thing is, though, Jean didn’t really know where his people  _ were _ .

 

Even if he did know, he still wouldn’t tell. He and his family had had to evacuate their home many times after a human infestation. He couldn’t remember how many times he had relocated, but he was certain that his tribe had after the poachers had captured him. In fact, he depended on it. He wouldn’t have given himself up otherwise.

 

With a trail of bubbles behind him, Jean sped off to his nook to sulk. He wanted to go home more than anything, but he wouldn’t risk his people just for his own sake. Even if the humans were to drop him off at the nearest river to the place he had been rescued, there was no guarantee that he could find his family again, and he’d be left to wander the waters alone until he could. The idea itself made him feel even lonelier.

 

Bubbles began filling the nook all over again. Jean didn’t like this one bit. He hated feeling trapped, or useless, unable to find a solution to any problem. It was his job to fix things. It was his job to take care of his people, his tribe, his mother… She’s all alone now.

 

The bubbles stopped abruptly at this one thought, and a sudden sadness swept over Jean. He curled into himself, scratching his fingers through his hair while he tried to stop the thoughts from pummeling him. No one there to comfort her in the loss of her son, no one there to care for her when she had trouble seeing, no one there to hunt for her when she was tired. What an idiot he was, using himself as bait to get the others out; what good would it do his mother now? He really hated it when he thought too much.

 

Jean had ended up sinking towards the bottom of the floor, but he didn’t much care at the moment. Until he felt a set of hands gently grasp him by the arms to lift him back up. He lifted his head and turned to see Marco looking to him softly, not asking for him to speak. Marco simply held Jean up, leaning his back lightly over the spotted mer’s chest to spread his weight better.

 

“If you’re anything like me, you won’t want any sand in your scales,” Marco said quietly. Jean looked away, agreeing but not acknowledging. He wasn’t particularly in the mood for pleasantries. “Your tail is growing dim again.”

 

Jean frowned down to his tail, noticing the blue was beginning to turn grey again thanks to his dampened mood. “Don’t really have a reason to shine around here.”

 

“Then why not go home?” Marco asked softly. “They’ve offered many times.”

 

“I don’t even know where home is,” Jean whimpered. His mother always turned him into a softy. “Even if I did, I wouldn’t want them in danger again. I can’t lead the humans right to them; they probably just got settled again.”

 

“Do you honestly still believe Levi and the others would do anything to harm them?” Marco readjusted his hold to lace his fingers over Jean’s chest, slipping his arms under the Neona’s shoulders and lightly resting his head atop Jean’s- something his own mother would do to him for times of desperately needed comfort. “After all this time… What will it take for you to understand that they want to help you? What’s stopping you from believing them?”

 

Jean huffed. “All humans are the same.”

 

“You know that’s not true.” Marco sighed, ruffling Jean’s hair with a few stray bubbles. He knew it was pointless to try and sway Jean any differently. It wouldn’t happen so easily. It couldn’t. That left Jean with the only option of pouting all by his lonesome, and that simply wasn’t allowed. “Alright. Come on.”

 

Jean grunted in annoyance when Marco tugged him along, swimming backwards out of the nook in a way that vaguely reminded him of when he was first rescued. “What are you doing? Leave me alone.”

 

“Word on the creak is you are quite the jumper,” Marco said, still tugging lazily out of the nook and giving Jean ample room to leave Marco’s arms if he wished. “So I’m challenging you to a Jump off.”

 

“Now?” Jean whined, flopping in Marco’s arms. “No, I’m not in the mood. Put me back.”

 

“That sounds like a forfeit to me,” Marco said thoughtfully, making Jean straighten up.

 

“Excuse me?” Jean pushed Marco’s hands away and turned to face him. “I haven’t forfeited anything.”

 

Marco hummed, shrugging. “Alright. Whatever makes you feel better.”

 

The spines on Jean’s neck bristled, and he straightened up to float a little higher than the bigger mer, pointing a finger at him. “Listen here, you little shit, I’m not a loser.”

 

“I never said you were.”

 

“Yes you did!”

 

“Did I?”

 

Bubbles began blowing out of Jean’s gills. “I know what you’re doing and it’s not going to work. You can’t trick me into forgetting what you said- I  _ know  _ what you said. You can’t play innocent with me, and I’m going to beat that know-it-all glint right out of your eye, you little codfish.”

 

With that, Jean sped out of the nook to prove Marco wrong. That ought to show him.

 

As soon as they were out in the open, the competition began, and Jean would be damned if he let Marco get the first jump in. Water rushed over Jean’s scales as he prepared himself for a jump, bolting out of the water and landing with a magnificent splash. Jean smirked at Marco, daring him to try to hit a higher mark, but the spotted mer merely smirked right back, and jumped out of the water, making Jean scowl at the height he had managed. The Neona circled around Marco, glowering at the smug satisfaction growing in Marco’s deep, brown eyes and readied himself for another jump, this one higher than the last.

 

Marco laughed, completely gleeful at the fact that he could share this with someone. Jumping on its own was wonderful, but jumping with another… that was absolutely fantastic. The humans just didn’t understand. Even Jean seemed to smile more, in between snarls at least. He was so focused on the competition that the look of determination on his face only made Marco more giddy. This tiny fish had nothing on him.

 

The two mer rounded around the habitat over and over again, jumping higher than the last. Marco sped up for another jump, relishing in the feel of the air on his skin and scales before landing back in the water with a huge splash. Jumping like this was always exhilarating, and it was a rare joy to finally be able to share with someone. He could get used to this. The look on Jean’s face was something Marco could grow used to too.

 

Jean growled in annoyance, realizing how much of an advantage Marco’s bigger muscles were now more than ever. He huffed out a lungful of bubbles and surged forward, putting everything he had into his next jump. He dove down low to the bottom of the habitat to gain momentum, pushing more power to his tail than any of his other jumps and focused on the surface, shooting straight up, up, up-

 

Bliss.

 

The air felt cool on his body, and Jean smiled to himself in victory. Surely, he had won this round, because it took nearly four seconds for him to start falling. Jean turned to ready himself for the water’s impact, but froze once he realized: there was no water beneath him. Marco called out to Jean, trying to reach out to him before he landed, but it was too late. Jean landed in a heap on the cold concrete, hissing in pain at the twinge he felt in his wrists.

 

“Jean!” Marco shot up along the side of the tank, clinging to it’s edge for dear life. “Jean, are you alright?”

 

“No!” Jean growled. “I fucking fell out of the water; how do you think I am?” He flopped over onto his side and held his wrists close to his body, already seeing the bruises forming. 

 

Marco looked down to him from the edge of the glass wall, then tried folding himself over it to reach down to Jean. “Can you reach?”

 

Jean looked back up at the spotted mer, a good six feet above him and frowned. Still though, this ground was scratchy and uncomfortable. It was worth a shot. He gingerly scooted himself upright and tried to stretch as far as he could.

 

Surprisingly, Marco was able to inch forward a bit more and grasped tightly over Jean’s wrists. The moment he did, however, Jean gasped and yanked his hands away, flopping back down on the ground. “I can’t,” he said. “It hurts.”

 

“I’m sorry, Jean,” Marco said. “I took us too close to the edge; I shouldn’t have-”

 

“Shut up,” Jean griped. “You’re not the one who jumped out of here; will you just go get some help already?”

 

Big, watery brown eyes looked down to Jean with regret and worry, but Marco nodded all the same and sped off with a quick, “Wait right there!”

 

“Kinda planned on it,” Jean mumbled to himself, then slipped right up along the glass wall to wait for rescue. He slapped his tail irritably along the ground every few seconds, not liking being stuck out in the open like this. Marco had better hurry. Especially since there was a tapping sound coming from around the corner that sounded an awful lot like-

 

Oh, no.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops. Cliffhanger. It's probably going to be another couple days too because I'm still writing out chapter 9 and want that cushion. Regrets, I have none. Hehehe.
> 
> Also, did anyone get the extremely little shout out of Disney I snuck in there? I freaking love that mouse.


	7. Reconsider (pt.2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part two of three.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! More characters!

 

 

**-Chapter 7: Reconsider (pt.2)-**

 

Jean stiffened at the sight of his worst nightmare. Crocodiles, fine. Sharks, no big. Snakes, piece of kelp- but this… This was awful.

 

There, just out of the corner of his eye, Jean could see a toddler peddling around the front of the audience. It was a girl, barely old enough to walk but, walk she did. Well. More of a waddle, really. Jean stayed deathly still, never taking his eyes off of her while she played on her own, having not noticed the mer just yet. She spun around in circles, waving around a flowery water bottle and gurgling happily to herself until she plopped down on her bum, having lost any sense of direction at all. The girl giggled to herself, lost in her dizziness and tried to right herself but flopped over to her side again. That’s when she saw him.

 

The girl’s eyes looked to Jean with wide wonder, while Jean stiffened up. Offspring usually meant that the mother would be close by, and in his experience, Jean wanted nothing to do with an angry mother. Especially a human.

 

The spines on Jean’s neck bristled as the girl found her footing and stood up, still keeping her distance but staring at him with wide, pale-blue eyes. Almost like water. Jean stared back, never taking his eyes off of her, until she smiled at him.

 

A giggle slipped past her lips, and she flapped her hands out to her sides in delight, stomping her feet towards the fascinating, blue mermaid. Jean, having no idea what she was doing, stiffened further, and puffed up his gills. This only seemed to excite the girl further, and she squealed with glee, stomping her feet again. 

 

She stepped closer to Jean, still smiling brightly, but one hiss from Jean stopped her with a curious look. The girl whimpered, not sure what was wrong, but knew that she didn’t like the sound Jean had made, or the teeth growing from his mouth. She thought for a moment, pondering what had changed, then crouched down over her knees to poke at Jean’s fin.

 

Jean yanked his tail away, making it slap against the ground with a wet ‘splat,’ and all over again, the girl squealed in delight. She giggled as she reached for Jean’s fin again, poking her finger out to try and touch it, and laughed when Jean slapped his tail again. This human knew nothing about warning signals, didn’t she?

 

She kept reaching to poke at Jean’s fin, making him grow more irritated with every attempt. It was only a few minutes, but moving around like that, blowing air across his scales and slapping off whatever moisture he had left, made Jean dry out fairly quickly. He panted against the wall, still keeping his eyes on the girl and flicking his tail away when she tried to touch it, but the delightful ‘splat’ sound had dulled, and the girl looked to his tail in confusion. 

 

The little girl tilted her head to his tail, humming and mumbling, trying to decipher the reasoning for the loss of the sound, until she finally looked up to Jean and saw him struggling. She whimpered around a frown, and pulled her fingers to her lips to nibble on them in thought. Then, her eyes went wide,and she squeaked as an idea popped into her head.

 

Jean breathed a sigh of relief when the girl turned around and waddled over to the benches again. That relief was short lived, however, when she stooped over to pick up her forgotten water bottle, and headed back towards him. She struggled with the lid for a moment, but managed to open the spout, and tilted it over to drip on the edge of Jean’s fin.

 

The Neona stared in awe at the sight of the girl frowning at her bottle, and shaking it harder to drop more water over the drying mer’s tail. She huffed with effort, trying to get more water out of the bottle and onto his tail, stepping closer to do so, but always making sure to keep her feet away enough from stepping on the wispy, red fins.

 

“Bindi!” A voice called, and Jean froze in fear. “What’re ye doin’?”

 

The girl turned to the voice, still shaking her bottle, but answered. “Mummy, hap.”

 

A woman walked up with wide, green eyes and stuck her hands on her hips, frowning at the sight. Jean’s eyes widened, and for a moment, found that he could not breathe. The girl, Bindi, whimpered again, and pouted to her mother with the biggest lip she could muster. “Hap, hap.”

 

The woman stepped up to the scene with determined steps, sending chills down Jean’s spine and him scrambling back into the wall as best he could. He knew this kid was dangerous. 

 

Gills flared, teeth bared and a hiss was right on his lips, but Jean held back in fear of retaliation. This only sped the mother's steps and caused her to yank her child away, making Bindi whine.

 

“Calm down, darlin’,” she said, and it took a moment for Jean to realize that she was talking to him. “It's alright.” 

 

Bindi watched her mother with wide, blue eyes as the woman turned her. “Mummy, hap.”

 

“I know he needs help, dear, but are ye s’posed to go helpin’ without mummy’r daddy?” the woman asked, making Bindi look down in shame. Her mother merely ruffled her fluffy, tan hair and knelt down to stand Bindi up, still facing Jean. “Next time come find us, okay? Now, what’re ye s’posed to do first?”

 

“Hi!” Bindi smiled brightly and opened and closed her fingers at Jean, who looked to the claws she was bearing with even more fear. “M’Bindi. Wha’s y’name?”

 

Jean looked to the two females in both shock and terror. What on earth was going on here? He swallowed deeply, and mustered up the strength to answer breathlessly. “J-Jean.”

 

“Jean,” the woman copied, catching his eyes again and speaking slowly to clear her accent better. “I’m Izzy, an’ this is Bindi. We're goin’ to help you, but we need  you to stay calm, alright?”

 

The Neona stared at the mother and daughter, still scared, but nodded all the same. If he didn't, there was no telling what would happen to him. This seemed to please Izzy, because she smiled brightly to him, and took Bindi’s water bottle. “Bindi, ” she said, unscrewing the cap. “Can ye give this t’Jean, please?”

 

Bindi took the bottle with extreme concentration, watching it carefully as she walked it over to Jean’s side. He watched her draw closer, flicking his eyes between she and her mother and growing tense, but Izzy cooed to him to settle down.

 

“Alright, that's close enough, dearie,” Izzy said, and Bindi stopped to hold out the water bottle to Jean. He stilled, not knowing if reaching for it was allowed since it came from an infant, but Izzy nodded, and Jean slowly reached out to take the bottle. Bindi smiled when Jean took it, and after a quick sniff, Jean dumped the water over his head, sighing with relief.

 

“I dunne’t think that'll be enough, darlin’,” Izzy told an instantly droopy Bindi. “We'll have to git more. Come on.”

 

Bindi reached for the empty bottle, but stayed out as far as her mother had allowed. Jean cautiously handed the bottle back, and watched as the child walked back to her mother, who had walked up to the glass wall to inspect it, even going so far as to step up on the first row of stones along the bottom to try and get closer.

 

“Jean!” 

 

At the sound of his name, Jean turned to find Marco swimming up to the glass and speaking a mile a minute. “Are you alright? I’m sorry, no one was there at first so it took longer- Levi’s coming though, just hang on a little bit longer.”

 

“I take it yer Mar’co, then?” Izzy said, smiling at the spotted mer. “Pleasure t’meet ye; we’ll git t’know each other in a bit.”

 

Marco looked to Izzy, apparently having missed her in his urgent quest to get back to Jean. Jean, meanwhile, was doing everything he could to try and crawl through the glass wall.

 

“ _ Help me! _ ” Jean clicked, still terrified. 

 

“ _ That's what they're doing,” _ Marco squeaked. 

 

Jean looked confused. “ _ What? Why? What do they want _ ?”

 

Marco merely shrugged. “ _ Do they need a reason to want to help?” _

 

“Mar’co, fill this up fer me, please.” Izzy waited for the two to finish clicking before she handed him the bottle from where he had stretched over the wall, then accepted it once he had filled it. Bindi bounced on her toes and reached as far as she could to try and get the bottle so she could return it to Jean, who poured it on himself, and handed the bottle back to start the routine all over again. They made it about three rounds before more footsteps could be heard around the corner.

 

“Strappin’ tank ye have ‘ere, Levi; ye design it yer’self?” Izzy sassed, not even turning from the bottle Marco was handing her to know he was there.

 

“I told those idiots this would happen. The board of grumpy old farts sitting on their asses just couldn't see past the paycheck a see-through wall would give them,” Levi grumbled, crossing his arms at the sight before him. “The little brats just love watching the fishies swim.”

 

The sass on that man.

 

“Careful, Levi,” said a man stepping up beside him. “Keep up the sarcasm an’ people’ll think ye serious one ‘o these days.”

 

The man had the same blue eyes and tan hair as Bindi, and it didn't take a genius to figure this one out.

 

“Daddy,” Bindi smiled to him. “Daddy, hap.”

 

“Right away, darlin’.” The man waved his daughter closer to his wife before holding a hand up to Jean and slowly approached him, keeping his watery blue eyes with the mer’s while Levi looked on. “Ye must be Jean, yeah? I'm Farlan. I'm just gonna take a look’it ye, alright?”

 

Jean still didn't like the idea of these people getting near him, but they had been good about keeping their distance so far, and he wasn't so painfully dry anymore thanks to Bindi, so he couldn't complain. Much. He kept his eyes on Farlan while the man checked him over and asked a few mundane questions and requests, such as bending his wrists or wiggling his fingers. The sting made Jean want to cringe but he bared with it, not wanting to show weakness around his enemies.

 

“Well, good news is I don't see any obvious breaks,” Farlan said, scooting back a bit to give Jean room. “Looks to be only bruising, but we won't know for sure ‘till we git some x-rays. Good thing you lot are durable.”

 

“So he'll be ok?” Marco asked, peering over the wall from above.

 

“After a bit ‘o rest, yeah,” Farlan answered, making Marco sigh in relief, but Jean was still stiff- making Farlan look him over again. “A bit ‘o rest … an’ a chill-pill.”

 

“A what?”

 

Farlan laughed at the sudden anxiousness Jean once again stiffened up to, but shook his head and waved to Levi over his shoulder. “Come on then, old friend, let's give’m a lift.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know about you, but I live for sassy, Scottish Izzy and Farlan. Also, Baby Bindi because Croc Hunter (Bless his soul.)
> 
> It'll be a bit before I can post again but I love hearing from you guys. Thank you so much! I love you~


	8. Reconsider (pt.3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 3 of 3. 
> 
> It's time for Jean to make a decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY!
> 
> I really shouldn't be posting this because I only just started on ch. 10 but I slept in the new house last night and thought I'd celebrate with you guys by throwing out a new chapter :D I still have so much unpacking and moving to do but hey, I have my bed up :DDD
> 
> Enjoy!

 

 

 

**-Chapter 8: Reconsider (pt.3)-**

 

The x-rays showed only bruising along the bone, a fact that made everyone happy. Marco apologized at least six times more, making Jean even more cranky at the unwanted attention around humans. Jean had been under scrutiny from each and every being that had seen him out of the tank and then some, and it made his skin crawl. Throughout it all, however, were the water-like blue eyes of Bindi, watching to make sure he was safe.

 

Jean watched her back, confused as to why such a young human would be so concerned for him. In his experience, offspring were usually the worst out of all of the humans. They were loud and rambunctious and never knew how to see any warning signs from any dangerous creature, let alone a mer. 

 

The act of them trying to be cute was cause enough for other humans to act differently as well, but Levi and the others were barely affected by her charms at all. In fact, she acted more like an adult than any child he had ever encountered- until she was distracted by bubbles or his tail. She was, simply put, a conundrum to Jean.

 

After all of the excitement - A.K.A annoyance- of Jean’s injury and rescue, he was left to recover in the habitat while Marco spoke with Izzy and Farlan. Once again, out in the audience, Bindi was left to wander on her own. Jean watched her smile and dance in front of the glass, trying to make Jean smile as well. She was relentless, spinning around and playing with her freshly washed water bottle, all the while tossing smiles back over her shoulder to Jean every few minutes.

 

The Neona tilted his head, watching her with confusion. This child was like none other he had ever seen before. He couldn’t quite understand why it was so important to her for Jean to be helped or happy. No child had ever done that- let alone a human. This was all just too confusing.

 

Jean was so lost in thought trying to figure the tiny human out that the sound of footsteps never reached his ears until Bindi whipped around to smile brightly at Hanji with a delighted shriek. Now  _ that _ , Jean  _ did  _ hear. Hanji knelt down to scoop Bindi up and obnoxiously nibbled the girl’s neck and ears, making her squeal and giggle even more. Jean snorted at the so-called affection. Humans were weird.

 

“Jean-bo!” Hanji cried, smiling widely at the mer. “Heard you had a little tumble. Bindi here saved the day, didn’t you?” Bindi beamed at the high praise Hanji had given her, but Jean looked away with a scowl. He had half a mind to leave, and was already turning away when Hanji belted out another laugh. “Bindi the hero; I kind of like that, don’t you?” The girl agreed with a bright smile while Hanji held up a hand to count. “What does that make, then? Your fourth rescue? I think you’ve earned it by now.” 

 

That got Jean’s attention, and he turned back to look at the two humans. “What?”

 

“Oh yeah,” Hanji said, eyes alight with their latest, wild grin. “Bindi and her parents have been rescuing mer for years.” They turned to look at Bindi face-to-face. “You just started going out in the boats instead of the aquarium recently too, haven’t you?” At this, the toddler grew shy, and buried a bashful smile into Hanji’s shoulder, making them laugh again. “Yep. Definitely a hero. You’re a natural.”

 

Jean blinked. That couldn’t have been right. “She’s barely old enough to stand, let alone save mer,” Jean accused. “How in the world can she-”

 

“She saved you, didn’t she?” Hanji asked, eyes still bright but their hold on Bindi grew tighter. “Kept you from drying.”

 

“I could have managed on my own,” Jean snipped.

 

“And yet, you didn’t.”

 

A snarl ripped out of Jean, fangs bared and gills puffed as his claws scratched against their grip on the glass wall, frightening Bindi back into Hanji’s shoulder, who gingerly pat her head, all the while keeping eyes with Jean. The Neon locked eyes with Hanji, irritated beyond belief and more confused than he’d like to admit. Hanji merely looked to him, still holding Bindi close.

 

“She needs to learn warning signals better,” Jean finally muttered. “I could have killed her.”

 

“And yet,” Hanji smirked. “You didn’t.”

 

“She was confusing me, how was I supposed to-” Jean stopped, huffing more bubbles out as he sank down to his nose. Bindi looked to Jean with wide, watery-blue eyes and whimpered a bit, saddened by his unhappiness and put off by his scary teeth hiding behind his lips. Still though, she looked up to Jean, and held a hand out to him with a curious whine. 

 

“I don’t get you,” Jean said, still frowning. “Your kind don’t help mine.”

 

“And what exactly is her kind, Jean?” Hanji asked. Jean scoffed.

 

“Humans.”

 

“Funny,” Hanji said lightly, playing with Bindi’s soft hair. “That seems to be the only thing we’ve been trying to do since you got here.” Hanji locked eyes with Jean, not really threatening or challenging, but more like they were trying to see the way he thought as they spoke. “Humans can be bad,” they went on. “But some can be good. In fact, a lot of them are. It’s really no different than some mer being bad; I’m sure you’ve had your fair share.” At this, Jean snorted again. “Would you tell me otherwise if I assumed all mer were evil?”

 

“Of course I would,” Jean snapped. “That’s stupid; who says they’re bad?”

 

Hanji blinked, still keeping their voice light. “Then why would you assume that Bindi and I are bad?” 

 

Bindi whimpered at the idea of Jean not liking her, and began shaking her head frantically. “No bad, no bad.”

 

Jean found himself shaking his head as well to stop her, not realizing that having her upset over something like that would irk him as well. Still though. It felt so unnatural.  “... She’s so young, though.”

 

“Yes, well, she was raised right,” Hanji said softly. “Not everyone will understand that caring for others equally is something that needs to be learned. Thankfully, Bindi here got a head start.” They turned their eyes back to Jean, catching his. “Don’t hate. Educate. That’s the best way for change to happen. At least, that’s what I think.”

 

Jean blinked at the humans, completely dumbfounded. He really didn’t have anything else to say, because he couldn’t think of it. Hanji smiled to a wilting Bindi and hiked her up higher over their hip. “The grown ups are just about done, little bean,” Hanji told her. “Are you ready to go?”

 

Bindi whimpered, still looking to Jean with those big, blue eyes that were now glossy with tears. “Jnn,” she said with barely a voice, then buried her face in Hanji’s shoulder again to pout. Hanji patted her head and turned to leave, holding Bindi all the tighter. Jean watched, a pit growing in his stomach the farther away they went. They had almost made it to the exit when Bindi looked up from Hanji’s shoulder to show her tearful eyes, and Jean couldn’t help himself. He leaned forward, hands clasping over the edge of the wall in an attempt to get closer to her, but stopping once he realized what he was doing. Bindi, however, would not allow it. 

 

“Jnn!”

 

She whined and whimpered and struggled to get down until Hanji set her back down on the ground, and watched her scramble all the way back to the wall. Jean found himself watching as well, and sank down into the water to meet her when she arrived. Bindi looked to Jean through the glass, sniffling and huffing, but held a hand up to the glass all the same. After a moment, Jean lifted his hand as well, and placed it up alongside hers on the other side of the glass with the smallest of smiles. Bindi beamed, and that, in itself, made Jean’s smile widen only a little bit.

 

Now adequately satisfied with the lack of hate from her new mer friend Jean, Bindi stepped back from the glass and opened and closed her hand, grabbing at the air with a smile bigger than she could handle. “Buh-bye!”

 

Jean lifted his hand as well and flexed his fingers to copy the motion, still uncomfortable with showing claws as a sign of affection but- hey. Bindi was smiling again.

 

Hanji shook their head but knelt down to accept Bindi’s hand when she returned, and picked her up with a loud growl, making Bindi laugh again as they walked out of the auditorium. Jean watched until there was nothing left, then circled around to float aimlessly within the habitat. It didn’t take him long to figure out what he wanted, and soon enough, Jean aimed for quarantine.

 

Marco was sitting on the underwater platform chatting excitedly with Izzy when Jean popped up from out of the water, and once again, Marco lighted up. “Jean! Guess what: Izzy and her family have a spotted mermaid!”

 

Izzy’s smile never wavered, even when Jean approached rather timidly. “Ilse’s rehabilitated now, so she’s goin’ to be joining yer little club in the next few weeks,” she explained. “An’ Petra an’ Ymir will be showin’ up as well; she’s been dyin’ to meet another spot. If all goes according to plan, there’ll be little speckled babby’s all over the place.”

 

The Neona gave a small smile to encourage her, but said nothing, which alerted Marco. He laid a hand over Jean’s shoulder and softened his voice.  “Is something wrong?”

 

Jean shook his head, but spoke quietly. “Where’s Levi?”

 

“I’ll go an’ fetch’im then.” Izzy smiled, then stood up to lean over the handrail. “Oi! Cap’n Short Arse!”

 

From somewhere behind the walls, Levi’s irritation could be heard in reply. “Stop yelling in my hospital.” A few moments later, the man was seen walking around the corner with Bindi on his hip. “What do you want, brat?”

 

Izzy grinned and ran down the steps, throwing a thumb over her shoulder. “Jean need’s to talk wi’ye.” She scooped up her daughter with a squeal and spun away around the corner, laughing with Bindi the whole time. “C’mon, darlin’ let’s go find daddy!”

 

Levi rolled his eyes as he stepped up to the tank, waiting for Marco’s permission before ascending the stairs. “What is it, Jean?”

 

The Neona looked to his hands, fiddling with his fingers a bit before muttering out. “I want to go home.”

 

Levi didn’t do anything, but asked instead. “What’s stopping you?”

 

Finally, Jean looked up, tired of fighting. “I don’t know where they are.”

 

Again, Levi didn’t react, and after a moment, sighed out a breath, and leaned against the railing. “We can find you a habitat somewhere,” he said. “You can look for them from there, or settle in one of our reservoirs until we can find them for you. It’s up to you.”

 

From the corner of his eye, Jean could see Marco drooping a bit, but perked up with a reassuring smile when Jean turned to look at him. This place was going to get noisey soon, and while this was what Marco wanted, Jean couldn’t help but dislike the idea of his habitat crawling with new females. 

 

Even with the new additions, Jean couldn't help but feel that Marco… might actually be lonely because if it. Meeting because of business rather than companionship, being separated after the eggs were laid, and then saying goodbye to the females first and  _ then _ the frylings all over again. It would definitely leave a mark. Sure, it would take time, but it would still hurt. Especially if he were all alone. He turned back to Levi, deciding at once.

  
“Actually, can I stay here?”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So fun fact: I used to be a nanny. Specifically, a special needs nanny. One of my kids had cancer (She's happy and healthy today :]) and she and her brother and sister were some of the most mature kids I had ever met because they were not treated like babies despite the fact that the oldest of the three was barely seven. Neither myself nor their parents talked to them like they were too young to understand something or in that annoying baby voice (you know the one). I'm going to be honest, hospitals make you grow up. Fast. But my two year old was still just that: a two year old. Same with her brother and sister. We all had little kid conversations like adults would have conversations with each other, and it taught them how to handle things better. They were a major inspiration for Bindi (as well as Bindi herself- have you seen her as a kid? ADORABLE.) So while my kids were obviously 3months, 2 years and 6 years old, they were mature enough to realize a situation if they were ever in one. I put a lot of them into Bindi, and it made me smile a lot just thinking about them. :)
> 
> *thinking to myself* I should Skype them later...
> 
>  
> 
> Edit***
> 
> More doodles!
> 
> http://smitty-mouse.tumblr.com/post/160161925031/more-doodles-for-fresh-out-of-water-by
> 
> http://themarginalthinker.tumblr.com/post/160122292371/the-latest-jeanmarco-mers-from-author


	9. Review

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jean thought he had it bad when he got snatched up by those poachers. But this... this just might be the worst thing he's had to deal with yet: Public speaking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> May the Fourth be with you.
> 
>  
> 
> (Yes, I did.)

 

 

**-Chapter 9: Review-**

 

_ “This was a mistake.” _

 

Jean did not like this at  _ all _ .

 

_ “You’ll be fine, stop worrying.” _

 

Marco swam off without room for any other response. Jean was doing this whether he liked it or not. Which, he most certainly did not. The Neona groaned as he snuck out of his nook, blowing bubbles the entire way as he followed the trail Marco had left on his way to the auditorium. He could already hear the applause brought on by Marco’s appearance, and the thought of facing so many humans at once made Jean shiver. This was his worst nightmare.

 

In order to stay with the aquarium, Jean had agreed to help with education. From now on, he would have to, as Levi put it, ‘get off his lazy tail and do something productive.’ This meant that lounging around in the habitat while he waited for any word on his family like he had planned was all for naught. Public appearances were top of the list in ways to earn his keep, but even the idea of it made Jean want to tuck his tail and swim off to the nearest creek. Forget safety, this was torture.

 

Marco was already propping himself up on the perch and dug around in a hidden cubby in the rocks for his headset, safe from the water. He caught eyes with Jean, nose deep in the water and blowing nervous bubbles far,  _ far _ back behind the perch. Marco waved Jean over, but the Neona hesitated, sinking a little further into the water. A cocked brow and smirk was the only warning Jean had before marco was turning back around, shouting to the audience. “Are you ready to meet my friend?”

 

Roars of approval rang out louder than Jean could handle, but he was so focused on scowling at Marco that he couldn’t manage any other reaction than absolutely scandalized. Marco ignored it though, having his attention on the audience at the moment, and threw a thumb over his shoulder. “You’re going to have to excuse him. He’s scared.”

 

Forget scandalized. Jean was downright furious. A trail of bubbles shot through the water right up until Jean jumped up hard enough to shove Marco off the perch and take his place, making the spotted mer yelp as he fell unceremoniously to the water. Jean snorted, and nodded once to the rippled water that was Marco. Jerk.

 

The audience ate this up. Jean looked up to find hundreds of humans laughing at the little tantrum Jean had thrown, and once again, something cold and slimy shriveled up in the pit of his stomach. He swallowed, eyes never leaving the audience, but the sound of Marco’s laughter and splash of his return brought Jean back to reality.

 

“You’re lucky I didn’t have my headset on yet,” he muttered. “That would have ended badly.”

 

“Then don’t tell them I’m scared,” Jean snipped. Marco shrugged.

 

“Am I wrong?” 

 

The Neona snorted again, but Marco was busy digging out a second headset for Jean before wrapping his microphone around his head. Jean watched carefully in order to copy the motion, but flinched when Marco flicked on the box connected to it.

 

“That should do it,” he said, his voice echoing around the room. “Hello everyone!” All at once, the humans ended up responding to Marco in unison, as though they had been instructed to do so. Jean blinked, a little astonished at the level of training they must have had to get this, until Marco turned that mischievous smile to him. “Go on and say hello.” Jean frowned, but looked to the audience and gave a small wave. Marco wasn’t having it. “You can do better than that. Introduce yourself.”

 

At this, Jean sent a scathing glare Marco’s way.  _ “Don’t be surprised if you find rocks in your shrimp tomorrow.” _

 

“I’ll risk it,” Marco said passively, blocking his microphone to whisper to Jean. “But don’t speak mer in front of them, it’s rude.” He gestured to the crowd. “They’re excited to meet you; just relax.”

 

With that, Marco moved his hand away from the microphone and looked to Jean expectantly. Jean scowled his best at him but smoothed out his expression to a frown. Hey, it was the best he could do at the moment. He cleared his throat and waved again, looking to the audience if a little meekly. “Hello. My name is Jean.”

 

“Hi Jean!”

 

The crowd said in unison again, making Jean straighten up to back away from it, eyes wide. Quickly, he looked to Marco and jerked his thumb. “Do they always do that?”

 

A chuckle rounded the room at the unfortunate fact that Jean had forgotten his mic still picking up his whispers. Marco chuckled as well and clapped a hand over his shoulder. “It makes things easier until we get to the one-on-one part,” he explained. “Trust me, all those voices talking all at once would drive you insane.” 

 

Jean looked back to the humans, slightly impressed. Guess they  _ could _ be trained.

 

“Well, now that that’s out of the way, let’s get started, shall we?” Jean jumped at the sudden appearance of Hanji in the audience, having not noticed them until their voice rang out through the speakers. They clicked on a remote barely bigger than their hand, and the rest of the humans looked to the screens on either side of the habitat. “Jean here is a Dwarf Neona Rainbow Mer, and just like Marco, he and his kind are extremely endangered.”

 

Jean leaned forward to catch a glimpse of a school of mer swimming in waters he had never seen before, before Hanji clicked the button again, and a new picture popped up with a beach. “Most Neonas live a little north of Marco’s home in Australia, but somehow, Jean ended up here with us. Usually though, they’re mostly native to either Australia, or the Mamberamo River basin in West Papua in Indonesia, and unfairly common in the illegal aquarium trade.”

 

Hanji went right on without pause as they explained details about the faraway land, letting the air dry out the mer’s scales but Marco was prepared. His tail dipped low enough to let his fins swirl lazily in the water, and he quietly splashed up enough water to dampen his scales. Jean, however, could barely reach the tip of his tail to the water while his fins floated along the top of it’s surface, and Marco chuckled as he scooped a splash onto the Neona’s tail as well. The expected frown from being reminded of their size difference, however, was nowhere to be found. 

 

Bright, gold eyes widened at the display, and watched with barely a blink as picture after picture showed up on the screen of this place he had always heard of, but never actually seen. Jean was completely enamored by it, so much so that his lips parted curiously. Marco noticed his fascination, and nudged him lightly on the shoulder. “See something you like?”

 

“Oh,” Jean jolted, and suddenly remembered the few hundred eyes on him. “No, uh, it’s just… I’d never seen it before.”

 

“But you’ve heard of it, I take it,” Hanji said, looking to Jean with bright, brown eyes. Jean just sort of nodded meekly. 

 

“My grandfather was born there before he was taken in a raid,” Jean explained. “He used to tell me stories before he died, but, I never thought there would be so much… green.”

 

Hanji hummed, a gentle smile on their lips. “ I can show you more later on in private if you’d like? Or maybe, can you tell us about it? Where your family came from?”

 

Jean quirked his lip. “I can’t know much of something I’ve never seen before; what do you want me to tell you?”

 

“Well, for starters,” Hanji took a step closer to the tank with one, wide step. “You mentioned something about a raid. Care you elaborate?”

 

At the memory of his grandfather's stories, Jean scrunched up his nose and flicked his tail irritably, looking away. “Not much to tell. Poachers came. Captured, caught, trapped, drugged; you know the deal.”

 

“Some of us don't, though,” Hanji explained. “Unlike you, Marco’s home was destroyed due to habitat destruction and imbalance of power, but you,” Hanji paused to wave a hand to Jean, making the audience bring their attention back to him. “You and your kind are special. Of the mer people, yours is the most sought after but the common folk don't know why.”

 

Jean stared down Hanji, looking for any lies but finding none, then cautiously looked to the faces of the crowd before him. Many, if not all of them, looked to Jean with curiosity and wonder. Barely a handful looked otherwise but, the fact that Hanji’s words seemed to be true really angered him, but even more so… he was astonished. So, he took a breath, and started over.

 

“The poachers that found my family captured about half of the tribe and killed about a third of them during trapping and travel,” he explained in a low voice. “Some were sold off as pets for collectors but mostly, they were wanted for entertainment purposes because they could jump, change colors and they could sing. It made them great performers in circuses as, um,” Jean frowned, looking around for the answer at the tip of his tongue. “Oh, what did he call them, aero-, acra-”

 

“Acrobatics?” Hanji supplied.

 

Jean threw out a hand to point at them. “Yeah, that: acrobats.” He ran his claws through his hair to buy him some time to recollect what came next and how his grandfather told it. “Most Neona’s are really sensitive to water, so a lot of them got sick or didn't make it when they landed here, but the ones that did had to perform. My grandfather and a few others managed to escape after a while, and we've been swimming away ever since.” 

 

“Interesting,” Hanji hummed. They looked about to say something else, but a hand rose and got their attention. “Question?”

 

A man stood up and scooted through the line of seats to speak, but paused long enough to look Jean right in the eye. “You said that you can change color,” he started. “Is that why a lot of the one's we saw before were all grey?”

 

At this, Jean perked up. “You saw other Neona’s? Where? When?”

 

The man quickly shook his head. “No- well, yes, but-” Now he looked a bit uncomfortable, and scratched at the back of his head. “The… circus… was in town…” A sudden rage filled Jean, and with it, his tail dramatically dimmed to a dark grey, and his spines quivered with distaste. Having seen the darkness cover over Jean not only on his scales but in his eyes as well, the man looked to him with panic and a good bit of fear, and started back peddling as much as he could. “We didn’t know- I swear, we’d never-”

 

Jean wasn’t listening. The roar in his ears drowned out the excuses the man gave, and all he could do was stare him down in his hatred. Marco laid a gentle hand to the small of his back to smooth down some of the fins, and it kept Jean calm enough to keep from snarling at the man. Instead, he bit out his words with as much restraint as he could muster. “It was a maid, wasn't it?” he asked, eyes alight. “Yellow hair, blue eyes?”

 

The man’s eyes widened as he stared at Jean and nodded dumbly. “Yeah, they called her Annie. How'd you know?”

 

“Because they caught her two freezes ago,” Jean all but snipped. “Took us by surprise in our sleep.”

 

Shame and sorrow fell heavy over the man's eyes, but what was worse than that was the pity plain as day that Jean could see even from afar. The man perked up, trying to help with more information. “There were two others too, a big guy named Reiner, and a lanky one they called Bert.”

 

Jean shook his head. “Don't know them, but I can bet that if they were dull, they didn't come willingly either.” His spines were still jittering along his back, but Marco stayed, even when Jean straightened up to address the crowd. “Listen up. Any Neona you see with grey scales needs out of whatever shark-shit glass bowl they've been stuck in because they won't last long. You.” He pointed a hand to the man, but Marco pushed it down and spoke up instead.

 

“If you would be so kind, we'd really appreciate any information you can give us about Annie and the others at the circus,” he said quickly, but calmly. “In fact, that goes for everyone who has any information on any circuses at all.”

 

“Agreed,” Hanji butt in. “We'd gladly take them in for a little R and R.” Jean bristled again, but Marco gently clicked to him that they had meant no harm to his kin. “Now, shall we resume? Because I have some lovely pictures to show you all of Marco’s home town in Northern Australia.”

 

Hanji went right on without pause or chance to continue, and excitedly prattled on about the Southern Spotted Tribe with enough flamboyance to spark a wildfire. While annoying in itself, it did give Jean time to simmer down some. 

 

Marco began stroking Jean’s spines down, slowly going higher along his back the more that they settled, and clicked off the power boxes to their microphones to hum a soothing melody. Occasionally, Marco would rinse more water over their tails, and used these chances to scoot closer to his friend. Jean welcomed the comfort, and eventually, the darkness of his tail dimmed out, and his spines all settled back down, leaving only the usual frown on his face. Marco smiled at this, and quietly leaned over to Jean’s ear.

 

“You did well,” he whispered. “Not only with teaching but with your temper too. I'm proud of you.”

 

A wave of pink glistened over Jean’s fins, and a light dusting of baby blue crawled up around his scales at the words uttered to him. He said nothing, but simply nodded and ducked his head low, allowing Marco to continue his ministrations to the spines on his back that were now quivering for an entirely different reason. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland? How the Hatter's eyes and total color scheme would change when he was angry? Yeah. That's Jean.
> 
> I've been waiting to post this baby for WEEKS. Hope you liked it!


	10. Resplendent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> re·splend·ent
> 
> /rəˈsplendənt/
> 
> adjective
> 
> adjective: resplendent
> 
> attractive and impressive through being richly colorful or sumptuous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so my work technically isn't allowed to have internet but someone hacked the system to get it in *cough cough should have expected this from a building full of tech support geeks cough* work didn't like that, and now they've taken away all of our tools to do anything in order to get it back (or do any actual work GREAT thinking, guys): so all I've got until everything is unpacked is my phone... Here's hoping it posts ok. Sorry for the wait, guys.

 

**-Chapter 10: Resplendent-**

 

How utterly and completely annoying. Jean’s tail swished irritable in the water as he watched Marco chitter with the new Spotted mer from afar. A week. One measly week had been nothing but Marco waiting impatiently, and Jean bubbling in his nook alone, and listening to Marco’s constant talk of other mer that were  _ not  _ Jean, and now that they were here, he was sick of it. Ilse and Ymir had arrived within a day of each other, and ever since, Marco was nowhere to be found. At least, where Jean was concerned. The group of spots laughed and joked and talked and Jean was  _ so done _ .

 

Levi and the rest of their handlers, Izzy and her family, and a new woman they called Petra along with her partner Auruo chatted about the upcoming spawning season just as badly as the spots did. Jean didn’t mind their absence so much, but now that Marco’s attention was elsewhere, he was painfully aware of just how little he interacted with anyone else. So now, not only was he grumpy, annoyed, and completely done with the world and everything in it; he was also bored out of his skull.

 

The worst thing out of all of this, Jean thought, was that spawning season was still a few moons away. Meaning the females would be here longer. Meaning that Marco would spend his time with them.  Meaning that Jean would be on his own. Then, after this whole kerfuffle was put to rest and the females were gone, there was the very likely chance that Marco would be too preoccupied protecting his eggs to spend any time with Jean, leaving him all on his own. Again. 

 

So much for keeping Marco company.

 

Jean blew out a jet stream of bubbles and turned away from the laughing mer to swim away. He couldn’t stand watching any longer. Something had to be done. Marco had to know that Jean was still his best option.

 

Insistently, Jean searched each and every stone and pebble littering the floor of the habitat. He inspected their shine, their smoothness, their color, but so far, not one was up to his standard. About twenty minutes later, after the Neona had dug up a half submerged bog wood stump, Jean trilled in success as he snatched up a perfectly smooth stone about the size of his palm, and a soft, brown color, similar to Marco’s skin. The winning factor above all of this, however, was the fact that this stone had speckles of slightly different colored spots on it. Absolutely perfect.

 

The Neona smiled to himself as he swam back to Marco’s dedicated nest, and placed it lovingly right in the center of where Marco usually slept. Jean smiled again at the sight of it, polished perfectly and sitting boldly in Marco’s nest where it was sure to be seen. He was quite pleased with himself. 

 

“Jean?” Said mer jerked around to find Marco giving him a quizzical look, which quickly turned concerned. “Are you alright? You’re covered in mud.”

 

Jean spared a glance to himself, realizing all too late that in his excitement, he had not taken the time to rid himself of his… endeavors. He quickly looked back to Marco and tried to offer something, anything, but he was caught off guard by Marco’s existence to even think of something to say. Instead, he looked on with wide eyes and a gaping mouth, trying and failing horribly to say something. 

 

Marco swam in closer to take a look at Jean, touching his skin and wiping off mud, making Jean all the more flustered. His tail flushed a bright blue, but Marco, bless his soul, was too focused on the mud to even notice.

 

“Come on,” Marco said, and swam up to his nest. For the smallest of moments, Marco looked to the stone curiously, but just as quickly, shook his head and tossed the stone aside to sit in his nest, then patted beside himself to invite Jean over. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

 

A blink. Then another. Then, bright gold eyes turned from the forgotten stone and burned over Marco, making the spotted mer more confused when bubbles blew out of Jean’s gills and he swam away without a word.

 

Jean ignored his name being called and instead, set to work searching for a new, better stone. Maybe a plant, or even some weeds to soften Marco’s nest more. Whatever the case, Jean wasn’t going to stop until he found the perfect offering. And, he was damn sure going to make sure he cleaned himself up before presenting it this time.

 

\---

 

Offering did nothing. Not even when Jean practically jumped out of the tank to try and get Petra’s earrings (much to the woman’s surprise). Marco simply wasn’t impressed with anything shiny, or smooth, or soft. So, gifts were off the table.

 

Next, Jean tried dancing. His tail flashed a brilliant blue, and his dazzling red fins swept around him in an impressive display. His coloring hadn’t been that healthy in a long time, and begrudgingly, Jean had to admit it was due to the handler’s diligence on getting the habitat cleaned twice a month, then continuously  _ keeping  _ it clean. That, Jean could definitely appreciate. Especially when his scales absolutely sparkled as he twirled around in the water. 

 

Still though, all he could get from his efforts was a small smile, and an obligatory clap Eren had laughingly described as a ‘golf clap,’ which made absolutely no sense to Jean. What killed off the idea more than anything though,  was the absolutely obnoxious laughter that the one called Ymir had belted out, even going so far as to roll around off of the stone flat and into the water with her laughter bubbling up through to the surface of the water. At least Ilse was nice enough to laugh behind her hands.

 

He tried hunting, speeding around the habitat with all the grace his lithe little body allowed him, and it was here where Jean was thankful for his size, but Marco would always turn down his catches with barely contained annoyance. After that, Jean matched the bubbles puffing out of his gills. Apparently, Marco quite enjoyed hunting.

 

He tried singing, which got him another smile as Marco fell asleep. Each. And every. Time. 

 

Now, Jean circled around in the habitat, trying to think of another way to impress the spotted mer and get his attention back where it rightfully belonged: on Jean. Nothing seemed to be working. Even now, Marco was sitting with the females ‘getting to know them’ better before the season began, and left poor, little Jean all on his own trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with Marco.

 

Any other mer would have been thrilled. Jean didn’t cut back on any of the stops. Everything he did, he did to the best of his ability, no holding back. So why, on God’s, blue earth, was Marco ignoring any attempt Jean threw his way?

 

As much as it annoyed Jean, it only served to make Hanji ecstatic. They hovered around soon after Jean began giving Marco gifts, and even tried to help by offering other sparkly objects all in hopes of watching Jean make a fool of himself. For some reason, they seemed to thrive on his attempts; failed or otherwise. 

 

Ymir had gotten into some form of cahoots with Hanji and ended up snickering with the human. Different ideas were spouted off between the two to try and ‘help’ Jean out but everything the spotted female said came out with a raucous smirk and innuendos that couldn't be trusted. It didn't take him long to figure out that Ymir would be of no help.

 

Jean sighed to the ceiling, floating on the water’s surface to try and sort his thoughts. He simply couldn’t understand Marco. Nothing could please that mer. This only served to dim Jean’s scales further, and his frown deepened over another sigh. He couldn’t think of what to do.

 

It felt like forever and no time at all, but Jean was suddenly reminded that he had been floating for a few hours now when Marco jumped high over him from his right, and landed with a magnificent splash on his left. A bright smile greeted Jean as Marco twirled around to ready himself for another jump, sending him high in the air with a melodious laugh. Jean watched in awe, as though Marco had been put on display by the heavens themselves. The sun shone through the water droplets as Marco lifted them into the air, making him sparkle each time he practically  _ flew  _ through the air.

 

After a few more jumps, Marco smiled joyfully at Jean with wide, expectant eyes, panting a little from exertion. “How was that?”

 

Jean only sniffed. “I could have done better.”

 

The brilliance of Marco’s smile left at once, and he looked… disappointed, for a moment, until he resumed smiling, a little softer this time. “Guess I have some work to do,” he said, tucking his tail a little closer to himself. After a second thought though, as though he was remembering something, Marco flared his fins all around him and smiled again to Jean. “So…” he started. “What were you thinking about?”

 

Jean backed away from Marco’s ridiculously large fins, eyes wide and spines prickling instinctively to make himself look larger as well. When in danger: look bigger. But this was Marco, and neither of them had a reason to intimidate the other, so he snorted at Marco, and forced his fins to settle down. “What are you doing? Since when are you afraid of me?”

 

“Huh?” Marco’s smile dropped to a confused frown and he tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

 

The Neona responded by swimming up to Marco and flattened down the spread out fins, frown still in place as they resisted his demands. “I’m not a threat, stop puffing up.”

 

“Oh.” Instantly, the fantastic fins drooped to match the small noise Marco had given, and his broad shoulders tucked into himself to make himself smaller. His smile was gone again. “Sorry.”

 

Jean frowned again, eyeing Marco. “What’s wrong with you?”

 

Marco blinked. “Nothing’s wrong.”

 

“Shark-shit,” Jean rebutted. “Your spots are fading away. What’s wrong.”

 

“Nothing,” Marco insisted. “I just… I haven’t seen you for a while.” He turned his sad, brown eyes up to Jean. Regardless of what he said, Jean knew they were sad about something. “Not without you swimming away or throwing junk at me.”

 

“Not junk, they're gifts,” Jean hissed, but quickly snapped his lips shut and looked away. “I thought you might like something to remember me by. Seeing as you’re so caught up in those females.”

 

A quiet little chuckle bubbled out of Marco, quickly growing into a laugh that made Jean glare harshly to find out what he had done this time to make a fool of himself. Marco waved a hand out to dismiss the idea, but Jean’s gills still fluttered irritably. “I'm sorry, I'm just- I'm so relieved,” he said. “I thought you were mad at me.”

 

“I am mad at you,” Jean grumbles before he can stop himself. Marco’s eyes widen and grow sad again before he nods, looking away. “I had to do something to get you to remember me.”

 

“I haven’t forgotten about you, Jean,” Marco said softly. “I was actually hoping we could hang out for a bit. I know we haven't really had a chance to since the others have come around.” He gave a guilty shrug and a smile to Jean, trying eye contact. “They're nice and all but Ilse only ever talks about how Izzy taught her how to read and write with Bindi’s books and Ymir… Ymir is loud and fun and… exhausting.” 

 

Jean snorted again, crossing his arms and looking away to keep from showing how much his next statement hurt. “You seemed to enjoy spending all your time with them.”

 

“I kind of have to,” Marco laughed. “I'd like to get to know them while they're here so that I know what I'm getting myself into with the frylings. They won't be around forever, Jean.”

 

“Neither will I.”

 

Marco froze at Jean’s words, eyes widening in pain again, and nodded to the ground. If his fins had been droopy before, they were downright flaccid now. 

  
  


“Right,” Marco muttered, curling into himself more. “I just…” He turned his eyes back to Jean. “It's not that I dislike them; I  just miss spending time with you… Just you. Would it be alright if… if we just, hung out in my nest? You know, like we used to?”

 

Hope fluttered inside of Jean like the small, yellow and white butterflies he had seen in one of his old homes. His eyes lit up at the thought of curling up in Marco’s nest and talking like they used to, of Marco’s fingers grooming through the scruff of Jean’s hair, of their tails touching and skin feeling-

 

It's at this moment that Jean knows he'd rather be nowhere else than wrapped up in Marco’s arms. A small smile finds its way to his eyes, and Marco matches it ten-fold. This. This is exactly what they needed. This is what  _ Jean  _ needed.

 

It was right there, right on the tip of his tongue, not even a second away, but Jean stopped. His eyes widened, and his ears twitched, making Marco look to him with concern all over again, but before the spotted mer could ask, Jean was swimming away as fast as he could.

 

“Jean!”

 

He can hear it; the hurt and the confusion, but more importantly, Jean can hear something else far, far in the back of the hospital. Something familiar, something scared, something in danger. Something asking for help. Some  _ one _ .

  
“I know that voice!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really hoping this works. Not used to posting via mobile.
> 
> Also, figuring out how animals flirt is hilarious and fun, 10/10 would Google again for a good chuckle.
> 
> Lemme know what you think! ♡


	11. Reunited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One step forward, two steps back. That all depends on who's side you're looking at, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Rises from the smoke* I LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!
> 
> And still only have my phone TWT
> 
> I think i've used up about three tanks of gas trying to find a safe place to write while on my lunch break at work but totally worth it. I'm dying to share with you guys. Since it is on my phone though, beware of auto correct since i am STILL unbetad. I think I might be a sadist...
> 
> BUT, on the bright side, i figured out a way to post links without a computer so rock on for my lame butt, whoo! Check out this awesome fan art drawn by the lovely Nobodyhasblindedme way back, from like, chapter 7 or 8. I think I've shared this with about a couple dozen hundreds of people by now but it's still not enough. I just LOVE their fins, it's so adorable, go check it out!
> 
> http://themarginalthinker.tumblr.com/post/160122292371/the-latest-jeanmarco-mers-from-author

 

 

 

**-Chapter 11: Reunited-**

 

Screaming, crying, howling, slashing; Jean could hear it all, and he swam with all his might trying to get to the voice he thought he’d never hear again. The water rippled above him from his speed, and even with Marco following behind him, calling his name, he slowed for nothing. He knew this voice.

 

Through the habitat, past the wall and straight to quarantine, Jean nearly slammed face first into the glass tank trying to get there as quickly as he could, and as soon as he stopped, he could finally see. He banged on the glass, slapped his tail against it, scratched and screeched and chirped at the humans carrying in a thrashing mer, and only barely managing to get Armin’s attention. The small human stepped away for Jean to see, and once he did, all attempts to break the glass ceased. He knew this mer.

 

She was small, but feisty, and fiercely bared her teeth at the humans carrying her in on a stretcher, bound to it by the body straps as well as the netting trapped around her neck and tail. What used to be a bright, almost eye damaging yellow was now white with fear and pain, and the silver sheen of her scales paled almost as much to compensate for the troubles she had endored. Jean stared, wide-eyed and astonished to see his friend, cut and tangled and bleeding and only tightening the net over her body when she struggled, still trying her hardest to escape from the confines of both the net and the stretcher so that she could take on all of the humans surrounding her. He could see it though. The dread. The fear. The desperation. He knew that look well.

 

It only took a moment, a matter of a second really, but in the middle of a hiss, she turned her glare to Jean and stopped. Her bright, brown eyes lit up on him, relief and sadness and joy and any other emotion under the sun flashed over her in a mere instant as they caught eyes with each other, and now she was struggling for a completely different reason.

 

Jean clicked to her, holding his hand up along the glass to try and reach her through it, but neither mer could get to the other, and it only served to stress them further. Eren stepped away from the group carrying the mermaid in and rushed up the stairs to retrieve Jean, making quick work of the lock and tarp once again. By then, Marco had made it to quarantine behind Jean, and swam up behind him, panting and heaving upon arrival. Jean barely spared him a glance before he was jumping up and out of the tank.

 

“Hey! Easy!” Eren scrambled to pick Jean up before he could slide down the stairs despite what the Neona wanted, and quickly carried him down to the newly rescued mermaid. “We need to get her untangled before she suffocates; can you tell her we’re not a threat?” Jean paid him no attention. Instead, he snatched up her hand, eyes never leaving as the two began clicking and squeaking with each other. “Jean!”

 

“Shut up,” Jean hissed, finally tearing his eyes away from his friend to glare at Eren. Before another fight could happen, though, Levi butt in.

 

“Will you move your ass already? Your friend here is heavy and needs treatment,” he barked. “Walk and talk. He’s coming with.”

 

\---

 

Complete sedation with Jean in the room was not an option, but the small bit they gave her to relax her muscles was just enough to get by without causing too much distrust. Levi cut away the netting that had tangled their rescued mermaid with the precision of a surgeon. It dug into her skin and scales, tangling her into a vulnerable, curled position that would have easily killed her had a local organization not been cleaning up the area and found her. Whatever missing flesh because of a lazy fisherman's mistake was cleaned and patched up, leaving her covered in bandages. Jean held her hand the entire time.

 

Now, sitting attentively at her side, Jean still held her hand as they sat in quarantine together, watching the leader of the organization who had found her hovering close by as well.

 

“How are you feeling?” The small man asked. “Not too groggy, are you?”

 

The maid looked to this strange, little man inquisitively, scooting closer to Jean in the process. _“Why is he talking to me?”_

 

 _“Just humor the guy, will you? He did save your hide.”_ Jean whispered to her, then nodded to the man. “What's your name?”

 

He straightened up a bit, a little surprised to be acknowledged so quickly. “Oh- I'm- I'm Connie, man,” he extended a hand and a wide smile. “It's nice to meet ya.”

 

Jean cocked a brow to the hand with a sniff but chose to ignore the fact that it was empty. “Call me Jean.”

 

“Jean,” Connie muttered, smile still in place even though his hand dropped. “Latest recruit for the aquarium; I've been wanting to meet you- just, not under these circumstances.” He gave a small chuckle and looked back to the mermaid, having watched the interaction between the two males with curious interest. “Is it alright if I call you Sasha?”

 

The maid blinked, completely confused. “What? Why?”

 

Connie shrugged, never dimming on his expression. “I'm pretty sure if i tried to say your actual name, I'd end up offending you and about thirty of your ancestors. I'd rather not have them come haunt me, so I'm taking the easy way out.”

 

She shook her head, still confused. “No, I mean, why Sasha?”

 

“Oh,” Connie laughed a little, his smile still as grand as royalty, but offered a small shrug. “Pretty name for a pretty girl. Unless you'd like something different?”

 

The mermaid squinted at Connie, eyeing him up and down with very little effort to being subtle about it, then leaned closer to Jean, keeping her eyes on the man before them. _“I think he's trying to get on my good side.”_

 

 _“Pfft,”_ Jean snickered. _“Smart man.”_

 

Connie still sat smiling as the two mer talked about him, looking to his phone occasionally when the conversation went on a little too long. It was this that caught Sasha’s attention.

 

“I've seen those!” She instantly sat up to look a little closer at the device in his hand. “Humans talk to those little boxes all the time. Do they like it in there?”

 

Connie gave her a perplexed expression and held up his phone. “Who? The phone?”

 

“I've never heard of such a creature,” Sasha said, scooting closer for a look. “I mean you humans call them phones all the time but I've never seen how they live in those little boxes. They must be really small.”

 

There was a look of actual pain on Connie’s face as he bit back a laugh and took a breath to respond. “No,” he said, his voice a little too high pitched. He coughed and tried again. “No, there's nothing living inside them. The box is the phone. It helps us communicate over long distances.”

 

Sasha narrowed her eyes at the phone in Connie’s hand. “So that’s how you got them all to the pond so fast.”

 

Jean was sniffing at the device Connie had allowed him to pick up when he turned to Sasha much too quickly. “A pond? Is that where everyone is now?”

 

The squint Sasha was giving the phone vanished in an instant with a gasp. “They don't know I'm gone!”

 

“That's perfect!” Sasha resumed the beady-eyed glare she had mastered but turned it on Jean now, who held his hands up in surrender. “It means they won't leave that place. It means we can find them; that I can go home!”

 

“Not before sunrise,” Sasha said. “If I'm not back, they'll know something is wrong.”

 

“Then let me go,” Jean said, his excitement growing. “I can go and tell them what happened; I can tell them to wait for you- and Annie too.”

 

Sasha wrinkled her nose. “Who's Annie?”

 

Jean ignored her, planning everything in his head. Connie jumped when he did, scooting back to put some space between the two of them. “Take me to the pond- I need to go there, _now_!”

 

“Sure,” Connie sputtered. “Just lemme talk to Levi, okay?”

 

It wasn't enough. Jean _had_ to know he was going home before his family could realize something was wrong, he _had_ to leave, _had_ to find his family, his mother. Waiting here another second simply was not an option. Before anyone could do anything, Jean shot up from his seat and out towards the upper platform Connie was sitting on, scaring the man into a squeal.

 

“What are you-?!”

 

“Levi!” Jean shouted, crawling down the stairs with Connie hot on his fins. “Levi, where are you?!”

 

“Stop. Screaming. In. My. Hospital.” Came the droned reply, but the figure of the man was nowhere to be seen. Jean followed his voice around the corner, dragging his tail behind him and a fretting Connie not too far off. His claws clacked against the stone flooring, his scales scraping in his efforts, but Jean was not deterred. He found the small male cracking shells with a knife, his back turned to the doorway Jean had dragged himself to. “I'm elbow deep in your dinner, give me one good reason not to spit in it.”

 

“I know where my family is.”

 

Levi instantly turned around at the sound of claws gripping his doorway and scowled at the flustered man and panting Neona before him. “Get your ass back in the tank; what the hell is wrong with you?”

 

“I know where my family is!” Jean repeated, much more urgently now as he swatted away Levi’s hands. The human persisted, however, and snatched Jean up in his arms. “I need to go to them- _now._ I can't miss them again, who _knows_ when we’ll ever get another chance like this?”

 

“Calm down,” Levi grumbled, starting to climb the stairs to the tank. “Last thing I want is more mer than I can safely house. I don't plan on keeping both of you if you have somewhere to go.” Sasha slipped away as Levi stepped gracefully over the threshold of the upper platform into the water, walking further into the tank despite Jean’s size. “If you keep jumping out of the tank, though, I'll strap you to a rock myself.”

 

“So you'll take me home?” Jean asked, completely ignoring the man's threats.

 

“Tonight.” Levi said, them promptly dropped Jean into the deep of the water, leaving no room for objections but plenty for yelps. “Say your goodbyes.”

 

In any other situation, having been manhandled, scolded _and_ tossed about, Jean would have been one angry, little pissbaby. With the news of reaching his family, however, of finally going home, Jean was downright giddy. A shrill squeal of delight trilled out of him as he circled the tank in tight, speedy rings before jumping straight into the air with another loud whoop of pure joy. Victory never tasted so sweet.

 

The rambunctious laughter coming out of Jean sounded slightly manic, and put Sasha a little on edge until he grabbed her wrists to spin them around. It didn't take much to make her start giggling as well, and even start spinning with him while Jean nearly sang the same words over and over again.

 

“ _I'm going home_ ,” Jean gasped. “ _I'm going home, I'm going home I'm going_ -”

  
Sasha continued giggling and spinning, but Jean had stopped. He simply hovered, the feelings that had grown in him so quickly now drifting away just as fast. The happiness he had rightfully earned shone brightly even as the other emotions fought it down, conflicting every fiber of his being as he watched sad, brown eyes flicker and turn away to vanish around the opening in the wall with the beautiful spots he had grown to truly love.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Maniacle laughter*
> 
> Are you feeling yet?


	12. Regroup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jean finally gets to go home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gaaaahhh I suck I know I'm sorry T-T
> 
> I still have way too much stuff to do and not enough time to write but I thought, you know what? I want some lovin' for my fishy boys. I still only have one chapter as a cushion but you know what? I've put it off long enough. Besides, it's been a rough month so far and I need some fluff. Consider it a belated birthday present to Marco.

 

 

 

**-Chapter 12: Regroup-**

 

“You'll let Sasha come back, right?”

 

Levi rolled his eyes but answered Jean all the same. “As soon as she's healed, we can bring her back here.”

 

“And Annie and the others?” Jean was determined to annoy Levi with nonsense questions it seemed.

 

“We're still having trouble proving that they were taken illegally, but Armin has a plan.” Levi held up a hand and glared at the mer before he could interrupt again. “Since when has Armin ever let you down? Have a little faith. And a butt-load of patience, twerp.”

 

Jean crossed his arms over his chest with a petulant pout and flicked his tail irritably. Riding in the van was not his first choice for transportation but it was the best way for Connie to bring him back, according to the bald, little human. That paired with a million left questions, unfinished business and a cold shoulder from Marco when he left; when it all added up, not even the fact that he was going home could lighten his mood.

 

“I just want to make sure,” he grumbled. He didn't like not knowing things. 

 

“We'll keep you as informed as we can,” Levi groused right back. “You just focus on keeping your family in one place and we'll take care of the rest.”

 

_ It's finding them in the first place that bothers me, _ Jean thought, but didn't dare say out loud. He didn't want to think it, but his tribe was smart, and far too cautious. It had been hours since Sasha had disappeared from her hunting trip. There was every chance that they would have noticed and moved on by now. He didn't want to be left behind again.

 

Connie turned off the main road and into a wooded area down a dirt road barely noticeable from the street. It bumped and grated on Jean’s nerves with every pebble and pothole the tires drove over, jostling the crew and himself as Connie slowly crept on. Jean flicked his tail again, growing more and more uncomfortable as the ride went on, and the air dried out his skin. Mikasa was quick to spray him down with fresh water but even with that comfort, Jean was uneasy from the ride.

 

_Find the family, keep them safe, wait for the others._ _Find the family, keep them safe, wait for the others._ Jean repeated his orders in his head over and over as they drew closer to an enclosed pond, purposefully restricted for only Connie and his team as they resurrected the land back to its natural state. Off and on, Jean could see people outside the van window cleaning up the area and hauling away dead trees, working hard to make right what man had ruined in the first place.

 

“We've already bought rights to the land,” Connie said casually. “It won't be long until it's ours completely, but until then, stay away from anyone who's not wearing a polo. We still get a couple trespassers trying to sneak in every once in awhile.” He pulled up and off to the side of a deep creek, supposedly where Sasha had been found almost strangled to death. “We searched the creek for any more debris, but we didn't want to spook off any other mer, so keep an eye out for any more traps or trash.”

 

Jean was barely listening. The van had stopped and the humans were moving to unload. It was time.

 

Mikasa took hold of the head end of Jean’s stretcher while Levi took the foot, carefully lifting Jean up to carry him out of the back of the van. He sat up while they carried him, ears perked and eyes wide as he searched the area with growing excitement. 

 

“Sit still or we'll drop you,” Levi grumbled, but Jean didn't care. He was too excited. Too nervous.

 

“Are you sure they're here?” Jean asked, still twisting around on the stretcher to look around. “I don't see them.”

 

“I'd be surprised if they did,” Mikasa spoke softly. “It's for the best that they don't either way. One scout is all it takes to scare them away.”

 

Jean shrank at the idea. They had to be there. He had to find them.

 

Slowly, one careful step at a time, Levi lead the stretcher into the creek until the water came up over his waist. With Connie’s help, Levi turned around to face Jean to gage his reaction to the new water.

 

Only the sound of nature carried on between the group. The babbling of the water, the birds in the trees, the wind in the air, it was all so refreshing to Jean that he didn't even notice the water calmly flowing over his newly colored tail. 

 

“Nice place,” Levi muttered, commenting after seeing the flush red of Jean’s fins shine through the water. “I don't think you'll have any problems.” He caught eyes with Jean, nervous and excited all at once, but slowing his emotions to nod at the human before Levi spoke again. “Good luck.”

 

Jean nodded once more, licking his lips while his fingers dug into the stretcher. The humans lowered it further into the water until it came just over his lower chest gills, and with one last breath, Jean dove into the creek, off to find his family in a world unknown.

 

\---

 

“I've got a treat for you, m’lady,” Connie announced, kicking off his sandals to plop down on the upper platform against the tank. “I think you're gonna like this one.”

 

Sasha swam right up to the platform, no longer apprehensive but now excited for Connie’s visits. “If it's anything like that fried shrimp junk you gave me, you can forget it, mister.”

 

“Alright, alright, I admit, that was a terrible idea- but,” Connie grinned widely. “I think I've got a winner this time.” He dug around in a brightly colored paper bag for a moment before pulling out a carton full of golden sticks. “If you liked the baked potato that much, I have a feeling you're going to love these.”

 

Sasha leaned up to sniff at his offering before taking one of the sticks to inspect for herself. “It has that strange odor again,” she commented. “It's oil, isn't it? Another fried thing?”

 

“Yeah,” Connie said, bashfully rubbing the back of his head. “But this is different. Momma loves them too.”

 

At the mention of Momma, Sasha blinked to Connie, then promptly licked up along one of the sticks. Her eyes widened at the flavor, and she ticked her head as she looked to it curiously before taking a bite.

 

Momma was the first mer Connie had ever saved. It saddened him that she could never fully recover and return to the wild after breaking her tail in a boating accident, but whatever tricks he learned from her, he used for any other mer he met; including Sasha, who had fallen in love with her instantly after chatting through the laptop. With Momma giving him high praise, and his natural charms helping him further, it didn't take long for Sasha to grow comfortable with Connie. The sight of Connie’s makeshift, floating ‘wheelchair’ he had constructed for Momma didn't hurt his chances at getting closer to Sasha either. 

 

Sasha licked her lips and her fingers after swallowing the stick Connie had given her, and looked to him expectantly for more, causing a laugh to bubble out of him. “Here you go,” he chuckled, holding out the carton. “They're called fries; and I'm glad you like them.”

 

The  outstretched hand retracted just as quickly as Sasha processed what had been said, and looked to Connie with wide, horrified eyes. “They're  _ what?!”  _ Connie blinked, but Sasha stayed appalled. “What kind of maid do you think I am? Seriously? And why is it even  _ close _ to acceptable to be eating  _ infants?!” _

 

Suddenly, Connie understood the problem, and his eyes widened to match hers while he backtracked. “No, no,  _ no!” _ He held up his hands to shake away the idea. “Not frylings, just fries- they're made from potatoes- vegetables.” Sasha cocked a brow at him, unconvinced until Connie held a hand to his heart. “No offspring were harmed in the making of this snack. Cannibalism isn't my thing.”

 

It took another minute of frowning and pouting, but finally, Sasha huffed and held out a hand for more food. Connie obliged with a satisfied grin, which only widened at the sound of Sasha’s content sigh. He knew she couldn't stay mad at him.

 

“You should really give these things a different name; it’s too confusing,” Sasha muttered.

 

Connie nodded while taking a bite himself. “Yeah, I can see that now.” He paused for a moment to think and chew. “The English call them ‘chips,’ will that work for you?”

 

“You mean like the yellow bag you brought me two weeks ago?” Sasha frowned. “That’s even more confusing.”

 

“Not to them,” Connie shook his head. “Guess that scratches that off the list. It needs a new name; one that won’t share it with another snack.”

 

Sasha snatched up another fry from the carton in Connie’s hand and squinted at it. She turned it, this way and that, glaring at it throughout her inspection before promptly nodding once and popping it in her mouth. “Tasty Yum Sticks.”

 

A fry stopped midway to Connie’s mouth as he considered the new name, and nodded as well with a smile. “Tasty Yum Sticks,” he agreed, munching on the treat.

 

The mermaid trilled a quiet little sqeal with a wide smile, and set forth to devour each and every one of her Yum Sticks. The two shared a chuckle at their new revelation, and even tapped their treats together in a toast to seal the deal. It only made sense.

 

“I really hope these are on the good list,” Sasha said through a mouthful of fries. “I could eat these every day.”

 

“Sorry, pretty lady, they're on the short list,” Connie informed her, bringing a pout to Sasha’s stuffed lips.

 

“Why bother bringing me treats if I can't eat them all the time?” she whined. “Bring me something that I'm allowed to eat every day.”

 

“Alright, alright, I'll think of something,” Connie grinned, stealing a fry for himself and snickering at the delighted trills Sasha purred out as she ate. “How is it coming along with the other mer? Any luck?”

 

The glee she had for the food melted away with a sigh, and Sasha flicked her bright, yellow fins as she turned to lean against the wall with Connie. “Ymir and Ilse are getting better but Marco isn't anything like Jean said he was. He's just so… mean. I don't know what Jean was thinking making friends with him.” Sasha poked around at her fries with a frown, pondering the last few attempts at friendliness. “I mean, I don't know what I'm doing wrong, it's been  _ weeks. _ It's never taken so long for other mer to like me.”

 

“I don't think that's it,” Connie said, leaning more over the wall on his elbow to sit more comfortably. “Introducing new mer into an established group is always difficult, and usually takes quite some time for them to adapt. As far as the girls go, you're working pretty fast.” He paused for a moment, frowning at the water. “For Marco though, I really don't think that's your fault. The others have been saying he hasn't been himself since Jean left. Apparently, they were pretty close.”

 

Sasha snorted, completely peeved. “Of course they were, Jean can be such a jerk sometimes. How does that saying go again? ‘Birds of a feather?.’”

 

Connie furrowed his brow, still frowning to the water. “What is it exactly that Marco does?”

 

A scoff ripped itself through Sasha’s lips as she dropped her fries to count off her fingers, making Connie lunge for the soggy treats before they could ruin the water. “For starters, hunting is nearly impossible. He keeps me from getting any fish and I have to wait around for Levi to come back with extra food.” She curled down a finger before moving on, curling each digit in as she listed Marco’s faults. “He completely ignores me when I swim by, he won't even talk to me, and last week, I thought he was going to kill me!”

 

“He was.” Ymir suddenly popped up with Ilse, scaring the two out of their conversation. “It's a good thing you backed off, or you'd be dead right now.” She reached over without another word to snatch a fry from Sasha’s container and bit into it with loud smacks. “I'm surprised he held back if we're talkin’ real here.”

 

“I agree,” Ilse said quietly. “I don't know why, but he really doesn't like you.”

 

“I do,” Ymir said, snatching more fries to shove in her already full mouth. “Marco’s just pissed ‘cause you took his lover boy away.”

 

“I did not,” Sasha said, indignant. “I didn't do anything!”

 

“Yeah,” Ymir snorted. “Right in the middle of his presentation.”

 

“Which was a disaster in it's own,” Ilse agreed. “It didn't help that you entered his territory without his permission. Poor Marco was so distraught as it was.”

 

“Wait, presentation? As in, like a courting ritual?” Connie asked. “Between a Neona and a Spot? Is that possible?”

 

“Well,” Ilse pondered, slowly swimming closer to the platform. “It's not advisable. The coloring on their offspring would dim and-”

 

“Blah, blah, blah,” Ymir butted in. “Look, the point is: you don't ever swim in on another mer’s territory without their permission- especially one with a well-earned grudge against you. That's just asking for a deathwish.”

 

“Jean had no respect for Marco’s space,” Ilse said distastefully. “He always filled it up with trash.”

 

“‘Trash?’” Sasha asked. “What did he find?”

 

“Things like rocks and human things,” Ilse said. “Cluttered up the place without even the slightest hint of respect.”

 

“Jean gave Marco offerings,” Sasha stated, eyes wide and mouth agape. She sat up instantly, determined to leave. “I need to see this for myself.”

 

Ymir propped up in her way almost immediately. “What are you, stupid?” she hissed. “I just said never, ever go into another mer’s nest without their permission. It's like you're  _ trying  _ to get yourself killed.”

 

Sasha stopped, tilting her head in confusion as she studied the mermaid before her. “But, Jean said I could go there if I ever needed anything,” she said softly. “I did when I…”

 

“When Marco nearly ripped your throat out the last time you went in,” Ymir snipped. “Honestly, he had every right to.”

 

Sasha blinked, thinking quietly. “But Jean said it was a safe place…”

 

“Yeah,” Ymir snorted. “Safe for him, but not you. Marco doesn't want anyone in his space.  _ We're  _ not even allowed in there.” She emphasized her point by swatting her hand between herself and Ilse, who leaned in a little closer to talk to Sasha. 

 

“The only reason we haven't done the same is because you asked to come into our nests,” Ilse explains quietly. “If you had tried it, we wouldn't be talking.”

 

“That just doesn't make sense,” Sasha muttered, glaring at her tail while she tried to put the pieces together. “Back home, we share everything.”

 

“Because you're a school type breed,” Connie said under his breath. He quickly looked up from his thoughts to the females surrounding him and sucked in his lip.

 

“I think I know what happened.” Before Connie could continue, a loud, shrill ringing came from his pocket and scared the mermaids away with a symphony of hisses. Connie groaned and smacked himself for forgetting to turn his phone on vibrate before yanking it out of his pocket to answer. “Hello?”

 

“Boss!” Connie yanked back his phone from the screaming in his ear. “Boss, we’ve got trouble- hey!”

 

“Gimme that! Is that Levi?”

 

“Jean?” Connie asked to the now one sided conversation as Connie’s teammate fought with Jean on the other end of the phone. “Jean, hey-”

 

“No- stop!”

 

“I said I want Levi!”

 

“I'm working on it, let go!”

 

“Stupid human- Levi! Levi, I need you h- gimme that- hey!”

 

“No, don't get it wet-”

  
All that was left of the battled conversation was the beeping of a dead phone as it rang out loud and clear in Connie’s ear, but it was already too late. Connie was on the move.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm a freaking genius and decided that having eight different projects all at the same time was a great idea, especially when three of those projects need to be typed on my phone. Ah, yes, completely, such a good idea. 
> 
> O___O   
> *Internally screaming* 
> 
> Someone help me from myself


	13. Revive Pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's trouble at the pond.
> 
> Part 1 of 2.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: So I did a little digging on drugs and herbs and poisons to figure out how I would make this scene work. I never used the names of what I found but if you recognize some of the symptoms and don't feel comfortable reading any further, please, please, PLEASE contact me and I'll give you all the story without the details. My stories are meant to make you happy, not be in pain.
> 
> Still unbetad, still on my phone... Ugh -_-"

 

 

**-Chapter 13: Revive Pt 1-**

 

It took much longer than Jean would have liked for the human team to return after that rather rude conflict with the idiot volunteer worker Connie had taken on. He spent the time circling the water restlessly as he waited, back and forth between the open waters and over the hidden crevice whenever he could until finally, his sharp ears heard the tell-tale signs of a rumbling van coming down the bumpy road. As quick as he dared, Jean swam up to the water’s edge and popped up to greet the very tardy team.

 

“What took you so long?” he growled. “I called for you ages ago!”

 

“Settle your flippers,” Eren droned, still taking his time to leave the van with Levi and Connie. “You can't just-”

 

“Damn it, you three, hurry up!”

 

The sudden urgent, panic in his demeanor finally registered to the men, and their pace quickened to follow Jean into the water, snatching their individual rescue kits without a second thought. They struggled against the flow of it, trying to follow Jean’s quickly retreating form deeper and deeper into the water, rising slowly over their skin.

 

“This is not a job for short people,” Connie grunted, raising his medical kit over his head.

 

“Shut it, Connie-” Eren yelped when his foot slipped over a slick stone, nearly crashing into an equally struggling Levi, who barked at the others to ‘Shut their pie holes and focus.’

 

At some point, Jean noticed the humans lagging behind. With all the panic that had grown in him though, the best he could do was scoff quite violently with an equally powerful eye roll and pointed to a more shallow part of the creek. “I'll bring her the rest of the way, just don't drown.”

 

“‘Her?’” 

 

But Eren’s question was ignored in favor of swimming back to the crevice to retrieve the team’s new patient.

 

“Woah…” Eren stared wide eyed at the mermaid drifting listlessly in Jean’s arms as he swam quickly but carefully to the half-drenched men. Her own eyes were open halfway, but she stayed silent as the grave, and didn't move a single muscle, even as Jean drew closer. “Is she dead?”

 

“No!” Jean hissed, snarling over his shoulder to glare at the boy. Even with all his malice, Jean took care to lay the mermaid out comfortably in front of the team, who immediately began examining her the moment she was within reach. “Something's wrong. She can't move, can't eat, can't speak, can't do anything. She's been like this for hours. I didn't know what to do- I don't-”

 

“Hey,” Levi interrupted with an almost soft touch to his stern look. “Breathe. You did the right thing. We'll take it from here.”

 

Jean stared woefully at Levi, helplessly clinging to his words with all his heart. Still, he took a moment to nod his head and breathe deeply. Nothing would make the situation worse like panicking. He floated silently, watching the humans poke and prod at their patient, but all he wanted at that moment was simply to be held. His muscles were tense with stress and worry, and nothing made that tension fall away like physical reassurance. Jean needed to know everything would be okay. He needed to be coddled every once in a while, and damn it, a while had passed.

 

“Pupils are responsive,” Levi murmured, tucking his flashlight away. “I don't see any physical damage either.”

 

Connie leaned nearer to the mer, frowning as he studied her closely.

 

“Did she eat anything?” Eren asked, digging out a needle from his bag for some blood samples. “Run into any territorial animals? Accidently-”

 

“I've seen this before,” Connie said flatly. “She's been poisoned.” He stood up straighter to look Jean in the eye, who looked like he had all of the air sucked right out of him. “Has any other mer had similar symptoms? Mostly the older or sicker ones?”

 

Jean nodded, holding his arms closer to himself and settling down almost on top of the female. “A few. She was the only one I could carry though; the others wouldn't come.”

 

Connie nodded as well, looking down to the mer with a sigh. “She's going to be okay, but it would be a good idea to move the tribe. Maybe get the sick ones to the aquarium for safe keeping.”

 

Both Levi and Jean shook their heads.

 

“They'll never go for that.”

 

“We barely have enough room as it is.”

 

“I know it's tight,” Connie said, holding up his hands. “But-” He stopped short, looking over his shoulder and around the area before continuing with a whisper. “Look, this area isn't safe anymore. Your friend needs a safe place to rest and this place ain't it.” He looked to Levi with concerned eyes. “Any chance on speeding up the expansion plan?”

 

The sour look constantly present on Levi's person only soured further. “I can see what I can do but the board won't care unless it profits.”

 

Connie nodded, turning back to Jean. “What about you?”

 

“What about me?” Jean sniffed. He didn't like this situation one bit.

 

“Can you and your family lie low until we figure something out?” If it weren't for the obvious distress in his eyes, Jean would have told Connie to talk a long walk off a short peir. This  _ was _ their safe place, this  _ was _ where they could lie low and it  _ was _ Connie’s responsibility to keep it that way. The emotion raging on behind his eyes, however, told Jean that Connie was just as outraged as he himself.

 

The Neona searched the waters for answers, sighing heavily. “I don't know if I'll be able to talk to you again if I tell them.”

 

“Meaning Sasha and Annie may never find you,” Eren almost whispered, horror dripping from his face. “But she's almost rehabilitated-  and we haven't figured out how to save Annie yet; you can't leave!”

 

“Don't you think I know that?” Jean hissed. He growled to the water, but his features grew soft at the sight of the mermaid floating beneath him. Tenderly, almost reverently, Jean ran his fingers through her hair, and with one last sigh, looked up to Connie. “I can't leave them defenseless.”

 

“I'm not asking you to,” Connie assured, his voice more gentle this time. “But- what’s happening here- it can't be talked about here either.”

 

“Springer,” Levi’s glare darkened at Connie. “Are you implying a mole?”

 

The look he returned to Levi said it all. All four scowled at the thought, but Connie was quick to offer an answer to their problem, if only temporarily. “We'll take her to the hospital just to be safe. You go to your family. Tell them to avoid slow prey- specifically fish. Nothing slow or dormant, nothing that looks to be sleeping. If it doesn't move, it doesn't get eaten, do you understand?”

 

Jean nodded, but held tighter to the maid. “Don't leave without me.”

 

Levi rolled his eyes and all but snapped. “We can't wait around for you-”

 

“You can for her!” Jean interrupted, bringing everyone's attention to his fiery eyes. “She's everything to me, you got that? That's why I called you here; I'm not leaving her again, so wait for me.”

 

The fierceness of Jean’s glare matched that of Levi’s as they silently dared the other to make a move. The pain, the panic, the fear, it was all hidden behind Jean’s anger, and the longer Levi stared, the more he came to realize that given the situation, if their roles were switched, Levi would have done the exact same thing.

 

“You've got half an hour,” he finally conceded. “Make sure you're back by then.”

 

\---

 

Of all the commotion that followed the reasoning around Levi’s return, this was not what Marco had in mind. He watched with delightful surprise as Jean came back through the hospital on a stretcher right behind another female, and chirped excitedly to try and gain his attention through the glass. Jean’s attention, however, was completely and solely on the female before him, and he did not seemed pleased in the slightest. 

 

Marco quieted as they passed and watched as they entered the surgical ward, never even bothering to look his way. As the door closed behind them, Marco floated for a few moments longer before settling along a steady, lazy circle around quarantine. He had waited this long. He could wait some more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have I mentioned how much I love you? Because I do. You're awesome, remember that :]
> 
> I'm so sorry for taking so long but i'm still only able to write on my phone these days. I also try to update alongside Name of a Witch and I'm catching up on the chapters I've already written. Fresh has like, 4 other chapters already written out but I want to save them so i can keep up with posting side-by-side with Witch. Thanks for stickin' around with me and my silly butt, you're amazing and I adore you.
> 
> Also, reading/re-reading your comments helps inspire me more to write mainly because I love talking with you but also because you're beautiful people and I don't want to disappoint ;w;


	14. Revive Pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are traitors afoot, and it's up to the team to find them. Otherwise, the Neona's may never be safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, surprise, surprise, still on my phone, still unbetad, but I'm also flying out to meet up with framily for a week and don't know if I'll get a chance to write much while I'm there. HOWEVER, if you're going to Ikasucon for the weekend, some friends and I are running a booth in artist alley. Come say hi! I'd love to chat with you!

 

 

 

**-Chapter 14: Revive Pt 2-**

 

“My best guess would be that they drugged the fish we used to restore wildlife in the pond and then just waited around to see if they could snatch a few mer.” Connie sat down with a heavy sigh, running a hand over his face and head to the back of his neck and sat there, glaring at the ground. “I thought the background checks were deep enough, but I'm going to have to go a little deeper it seems.” He raised his tired expression to Jean who was crammed inside a glass tub, floating devotedly next to the mermaid they had named Maman as she received her I.V. Her eyes had been covered with a damp cloth, thankfully closing them after such a long and earie period of having to deal with her blank stare, and only proving to Connie that things could have been much, much worse. “I'm sorry I wasn't careful enough.”

 

Levi huffed out an irritable sigh and leaned back against the wall with a thud, crossing his arms in the process. “So as it stands, we have a whole tribe of mer in danger and no safe place to put them,still enslaved circus performers from that same tribe and a poacher out to capture the rest with one of our guys giving him a key to the backdoor.” He glared up at the crew surrounding him. “That about sum it up?”

 

“You're forgetting the possibility of a tainted food source meant for said tribe that may or may not still be in the mix for the foreseeable future seeing as, if they get spooked even more, they'll leave in a heartbeat,” Eren said with a steady flow of sass to go with it. “Also leaving two to five mer in our crowded care in the middle of spawning season  _ if _ we ever manage to get their freedom.”

 

Another sigh left Levi like a tidal wave, his own sarcasm no better than the younger man’s. “Thank you, Eren, for pointing that out.”

 

In the midst of all this, Armin sat frowning to the floor, his thumb lightly running over his bottom lip in thought. “Actually,” he started, quietly. “That may just be our answer.”

 

Levi flicked his hawk like stare to his employee. “What have you got, Arlert?”

 

Armin lifted his gaze to meet Levi’s, gaining the rest of the rooms as well. “The construction work for the new shark exhibit is almost done. What if we could convince the board to change it to a freshwater habitat and use it for spawning season instead?”

 

“Hate to break it to you but that's a wasted thought,” Hanji huffed, crossing their arms. “There are plans to fill the tank with Blue Tangs and Clown fish alongside the other tropicals. The popularity for that breed has gone up since a certain, lovable fish came back in theaters. The board specifically chose that exhibit to bring in the crowds.”

 

“Yes,” Armin said. “But if we came up with more volunteers from the Neona tribe, they couldn't say no. Not with how endangered they are; the board would have to approve- especially with Erwin on our side.” He turned to Jean, still curled up beside Maman and watching the humans carefully. “Like I said though, it's all voluntary. We won't force anyone into anything they don't want. That being said, do you think you could convince anyone from your tribe to join us?”

 

“Not in a million moons,” Jean said, almost automatically. “But if it means my family is safe, you can count me in.”

 

Mikasa hummed, her thumbnail touching her lips in thought as well. “We would need two to three females to every one male. Assuming we can rescue Annie and the others in time,  _ and _ they are medically sound enough to breed, we still have too many males to females. That is, if they even agree to it. Which leaves us right back where we started.” She turned her eyes to the Jean. “You and Sasha are not related, correct?  Do you think she would be up for it as well?”

 

“Jean and I can ask her,” Connie said, sitting a little straighter with some renewed hope. “She's set to be released in a few days though, so it's really up to her at this point.”

 

“I can put a notice out looking for females,” Levi spoke up. “The other aquariums should have a lead on someone somewhere.”

 

Jean snorted suddenly, shaking his head. “That's great and all but good luck fitting us all in the habitat. My tribe won't come anywhere near this place.”

 

“They won't have to,” Connie said. “The Ragako Environmental Restoration Team had already decided to release ownership of the land we’re currently working on to the aquarium in order to make it a rescue resort. As long as you work for them, your family is protected.”

 

“But that doesn't mean anything if there's still some jack-off poisoning the food supply,” Eren scoffed. “As far as I'm concerned, they're in just as much danger now as they were anywhere else, if not more so because the poachers know where they are.”

 

“I have an idea of who it might be, actually,” Connie said darkly, his expression growing just as dim. “If not, then a way to find them at least. My guys have to sign off on what tasks they do. Filling the pond will have a paper trail.”

 

“Get on it,” Levi snapped. “The sooner the better.”

 

Connie nodded, agreeing instantly as he stood from his stool. “Already digging.” 

 

Before anything more could be said, a high pitched whine screeched into the room, causing each human to clamp their hands over their ears. Jean perked up as Maman flapped her tail in a lethargic, drunken stupor, and was quick to click and pur in her ear, trying desperately to reach her through her confusion. The fog clouding her mind, however, seemed to be impenetrable when she lifted her tail again- this time to attack. Eren was too quick for her though, and snatched up Jean before he could be crushed by the wild tail. Jean, himself, was not pleased by this fact.

 

The Neona struggled with Eren as he walked away from Maman, giving enough room for the team to deal with her sudden, heavily induced consciousness the best way they knew how. Jean hissed and screamed and wiggled to get back to her, but Eren only ignored every attempt, and quickly ran to quarantine to deposit his patient.

 

“We'll take care of her, I promise!” Eren shouted, tossing Jean into the freshwater tank before turning to hurry back to the others. “Just trust us!”

 

Jean instantly twirled around to swim upright and watched in dismay as Eren left. He quickly switched to a frantic pacing sort of movement, swimming back and forth in front of the glass and never taking his gaze off the doorway hiding his family. The screeching continued at almost a lazy pace, no force behind it aside from the initial effort it took to exert it. It grated on Jean’s every nerve.

 

Behind him, completely forgotten due to the panic, Marco crept up to Jean cautiously, and offered a friendly chirp to get his attention. Jean whipped his head around to see him, but the fear and worry never lifted from his features.

 

“You okay?” Marco asked softly.

 

It took a bit of effort, and it was entirely unconvincing, but Jean nodded as he turned back to look at the door, holding his arms tightly. “Just have to trust them,” he muttered. Then, after a moment, with barely any sound to it, he spoke again. “I've been trusting an awful lot lately.”

 

Marco wilted at the depression that drenched those words, but inched forward anyways. “Jean?” he said, bringing Jean’s attention back to him as he opened his arms. “You look like you could use one.”

 

It was barely a second, but Jean looked to the invitation and considered his options before almost violently curling into Marco’s chest and held on tight. Marco crooned soft comforts into his ear and held on just as strong as he smoothed down the quivering spines along Jean’s back. 

 

Somewhere in the mix, their tails tangled up around the other, but neither mer minded. They simply floated as best they could, parting only long enough to gain back whatever height they had lost before quickly wrapping around each other again. They stayed this way for far too long to be considered an appropriate hug, and still held close even as the strength faded from their grip.

 

“It's good to see you again,” Jean finally muttered, still buried in Marco’s chest. “Just wish it wasn't like this.”

 

Marco hummed agreement, still stroking the spines on Jean’s back in comfort. “Me too.”

 

Again, Jean spoke too softly, much quieter than before, but Marco heard it all the same. 

  
Marco’s hand faltered for only a moment, just long enough for the surprise to catch him, and a smile to land softly over his lips. He curled tighter around the Neona, resuming the soothing pets down Jean’s back. “I missed you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The boys (and me) needed some cuddles so have some fluff :]
> 
> I'll try to post again soon but in the meantime, tell me what you think ^_^


	15. Reintroduce

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reunions are usually split fifty-fifty. You either like it, or you don't. Good thing these guys know which is which.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack... and apparently sleep deprived. 
> 
> No wonder I'm loopy rn XD
> 
> Still un-betad, still on my phone. Looking into new computers but in all honesty, I think my best chances are with my good, ol' Baymax. (Totally don't name all of my beloved objects, nooooo....)

 

 

**-Chapter 15: Reintroduce-**

 

The instant Maman touched water in the quarantine tank, she and Jean latched on to one another. They chittered and squeaked and clicked but never once let go of each other. Marco held back, struggling to hide his distaste and obvious jealousy. This maid was nothing like Marco had assumed Jean would be interested in.

 

When they finally parted, Maman took a moment to nuzzle her nose against Jean’s forehead, and Marco had to look away before he charged. Jean was oblivious to all of this, only glad to have his Maman back.

 

“There's someone I want you to meet,” he told her, then gently took her hand. Jean smiled to Marco, who had straightened and slapped on a smile as well while the two mer drew closer. “This is him. This is Marco.”

 

“Marco!” Maman gasped, her own smile widening exponentially. “Oh, how good it is to finally see you!”

 

Marco kept his smile and nodded stiffly to Maman. “You as well, ma’am.”

 

A shrill cry echoed off the concrete of the walls and floors as Sasha bolted in from the habitat and nearly crashed into Maman’s arms, already chirping a mile a minute into Maman’s ears.

 

“Oh, guppy, you haven't changed a bit,” she chuckled, finally prying Sasha off of her to be held at arms length. “You look well.”

 

“Because I am,” Sasha beamed. “The humans here aren't like the others; they've taken real good care of us.” She stopped long enough to throw her arms around Maman again, squealing in delight. “I'm still happy to see you though. What have they called you?”

 

It was here that Jean finally interjected.“Connie said she needed to match me,” he answered. “So Levi translated a word for her, and now they call her Maman.”  He took a moment to soften his gaze as he looked intently to Marco. “It means ‘mother.’”

 

Time seemed to stop for Marco at that very instant. Suddenly, everything clicked into place, and all was right with the world. Jean’s distress, his intense emotion, the softness he held for this maid- it made every jagged edge cutting into Marco’s gut fade away at the realization that his jealousy was no longer needed. In fact, the hole it had left behind was quickly filled with an overwhelming feeling of foolishness that reminded him of every childish thing he had done in the past few weeks that had absolutely  _ anything  _ to do with Jean.

 

The  swirling pit of infantile emotions drew to a halt just as suddenly as it had started when the tip of his fins touched the floor of the tank. Marco looked down to find himself and the others drifting low to the ground, unconsciously matching the slow and steady fall of Maman’s drop in the water. No one had even noticed.

 

“Maman,” Marco said, quietly but urgently. “Perhaps you should have Jean show you to his nest.” He placed a reassuring hand over her own and smiled to her, trying his best to lift her up a few inches without her knowing. “You've had a trying day; some comfort is in order by now.”

 

Jean seemed to finally understand just how exhausted his mother was as he watched Marco barely lift her a handful of inches without the slightest hint of effort. It was only then that he noticed how low they had sunk in the tank, and he quickly swam up to her side to offer his arm.

 

“He's right, mom,” Jean said, his eyes glinting thankfully to Marco for not making a big show about her weakness. “Besides, you've run me ragged today. I could use a nap.”

 

“Oh, guppy,” Maman scoffed, but looped her hand around Jean’s arm all the same. “If all it takes to wear you out is to lug me around all day, I think it's about time you got more exercise.”

 

The mother and son slowly swam together towards the habitat, with Sasha not too far off from their tails. Marco smiled sadly at their leave, but the usual pins and needles digging into his spines at the sight of Jean leaving him for another was nowhere to be found. Instead, a warmth spread over his gills and down into his belly, reminding him of a feeling he had not felt in a while. He could already imagine the cuddle pile the three Neona’s would make, all curled together in Jean’s little nook, and was quite pleased to find out that it was actually a rather pleasant thought.

 

The spotted mer turned and rose in the water towards the edge of the platform for quarantine to wait for another human to pass by. It didn't take long for Armin to pull through, and with a smile from Marco, he quickly ascended the stairs to offer his assistance. Marco smiled once again as Armin reached the top, and didn't even bother to wait for the human to ask before sweetly placing his hands over the edge of the tank.

 

“I'd like to see my family please.”

 

\---

 

The announcement of the Neona’s breeding program alongside the Spot’s sparked an excitement in the aquatic-life fandom that hadn't been there for years. News traveled fast at the exposure of the rare breed giving a shot at saving their race, and suddenly, everyone was in an uproar to do whatever they could to help.

 

As the main mer of the program, the spotlight shone brightly on Jean for a while. Although he didn't like all the humans crowding him, he wasn't going to complain about having all of the attention on him. Saving his people was starting to look like a reality.

 

Still though, after all of that, business was business, and the aquarium had to move on. Meaning that since a healthy mer was ready to be freed, it was time for Maman to return home. The media ate it up. Jean… not so much.

 

Sasha had gone along with the group to say her goodbyes, as well as to try and recruit as many Neona as possible into the breeding program. Levi had promised to come back for them in a week, but knew that they needed to begin right away; so it was Jean’s duty to go back with the hospital in order to get things started. It was a hard argument, but in the end, reason won.

 

Jean re-entered the quarantine tank with the weight of the world holding down his shoulders. The sadness radiating off of him was tangible, and Marco was more than ready to wrap his arms around the despondent Neona. The trip to return Maman to the pond had been a rather long one if Marco were to be honest, but he could tell that it wasn't nearly long enough for Jean’s taste.

 

It was clear that he was tired, but that wasn't the reason for not hugging back. Jean simply leaned against Marco, drooping his fins and arms uselessly while he buried his face into Marco’s shoulder and accepted whatever affection was given to him. 

 

“Are you alright?” Marco whispered, earning a nod in between the crook of his neck and shoulder. “How about your mom?”

 

Jean sighed, leaning heavily against Marco. “She doesn't understand why I have to stay,” he muttered. “To be honest, I'm not fully aware either, but I know this is what's best for her… We can't keep hiding forever.”

 

Marco hummed agreement as he scratched his nails through Jean’s hair. He knew it wasn't just his tribe that Jean was talking about. Traveling and hiding was all they knew. Those who couldn't keep up were left behind, and Jean was determined not to let that happen to Maman. 

 

Marco closed his eyes at the thought but held strong for his friend. “I know it's hard, but spawning season will be here soon.” He made efforts not to let the disappointment show up in his voice. “You'll be home again before you know it.”

 

“What about you?” Jean asked, slowly pulling away. “Will you go back home after all this is done too?”

 

The gold in Jean’s eyes glimmered at the thought, and for a moment, Marco was too drawn to them to answer before he nodded. “For a while, yes.”

 

“Oh.” Suddenly, the glimmer faded, and Jean pulled away from Marco’s chest. “That’s good, that's… That’s really good.”

 

Marco frowned as Jean pulled farther away to hold himself, but didn't push to invade his space. “Come on,” he said instead, holding his arm out. “We have a big day tomorrow. “

 

\---

 

Big day indeed. Jean was exhausted after one Q&A with the humans but after agreeing to the spawning program, his duties for the aquarium had tripled. Dozens of blood tests and exams had to be finished before he could even qualify to be a candidate, and after being poked and prodded for much too long, Jean had to sit and go through an interview with one of the board members that Armin seemed to be pretty chummy with. 

 

Erwin, or Mr. Eyebrows as Jean had decided to call him, spent a good portion of their interview droning on and on about questions that didn't seem to matter to the Neona one bit. As far as he was concerned, his business started and ended with the eggs. Not to Erwin apparently. There were mountains of papers sitting next to the giant of a man, and if Jean’s hunch was correct, he'd have to go through each and every one of those little suckers in great detail before this torture could end. Stupid Eyebrows.

 

Finally, after a well earned lunch break, Jean flopped over in an exaggerated splat when Hanji told him to prep for another Q&A coming in that afternoon. Now, firmly planted on the perch next to Marco, Jean worked to keep his eyes open while Marco explained his hunting techniques for the third time in a row to a completely new audience. It wasn't until Marco flicked him with his tail that Jean finally noticed someone asking for his attention and sat up straight to shout out his response.

 

“New Guinea!” 

 

The audience laughed at the sudden outburst but Marco looked to Jean in concern and covered his mic with his hand.

 

“Are you alright?” he whispered. Jean nodded, but failed to hold back the tired sigh that fell out of him as he rubbed his eyes.

 

“Been a long day,” he muttered.

 

Marco smiled sympathetically, patting Jean’s shoulder with a nod. “I'll cover for you.”

 

Jean grunted his appreciation, still rubbing his eyes in the process. He leaned forward to rest his elbows on his tail and scratch his claws through his hair with one last sigh before sitting back up. He tried to settle back in, he really did, but he simply couldn't. Something wasn't right.

 

The spines at the back of his neck tingled with an unpleasant urgency that screamed to run away. His senses went into overdrive, reacting ten times stronger than usual and leaving Jean in the uncomfortable position of hearing every whisper, smelling every scent, feeling the very air prick and chill his skin. His eyes widened and his breath grew quicker with his pulse, only pacing faster as he looked around the auditorium for whatever it was that was urging his instincts to lead him  _ away _ .

 

“Jean,” Marco muttered again, more concerned this time. “Jean, what is it?”

 

Jean shook his head, still searching for danger. His skin and scales paled the longer he searched, and still his breaths were reckless. “I don’t- I don't know, something's wrong. I don't know-”

 

Eyes, far too many eyes were on him, none of them matched the danger, none of them matched his fear. He searched and searched but nothing came up.

 

Wrong, wrong,  _ wrong, danger, wrong! _

 

Marco quickly placed a hand over the spines along Jean’s back and started chirping to him, looking to Hanji to stall and maybe ease the crowd as Jean’s anxiousness spread and infected them, but Jean was having none of it. He had found the danger.

 

A man with dark hair, dark eyes and an even darker smirk stood up from his seat to leave the auditorium. He tipped his head down to hide low behind the brim of his Stetson, but Jean knew this man. He knew his face, his voice, his smell, but most of all, he knew his cruelty.

 

“That's the guy,” Jean pointed a finger, voice quickly gaining volume as the man made his way to the exit. “That's him- Marco, that's him! That's the guy who shot me!”

 

It happened too fast for anyone to comprehend it, but within the span of a blink, Marco had jumped down from his perch, raced over to the glass wall and rocketed himself out of the water. The man turned just in time to be crushed under Marco’s weight, and the spotted mer was more than happy to bare his teeth when he raised his hands.

 

“I wouldn't if I were you, mate,” Marco hissed. His soft, brown eyes were darker than ever, his claws had extended an extra inch or two and his fangs dripped with malice as he held down the poacher who had captured Jean. 

 

His sudden change in attitude frightened off the people sitting along the front row, causing mothers to grab their children in terror and run away screaming. Hanji worked their way through the chaos to try to get to Marco’s side, all the while urging security to come to the rescue through their radio. With all the panic, all the fear, all the sudden and impossibly dense discord that surrounded the last ten seconds, the man's reaction to all of this, however, was to say the least, surprising.

 

He chuckled. He chuckled, and still held that awful, smarmy grin of his, dark as ever. “Well, hello there.”

 

“Marco!” Hanji finally made it to the mer’s side, panting and with a look of actual concern. “Marco get off of him.”

 

“He's the one you're looking for, Hanji!” Jean had found himself clinging to the glass wall, scratching at it with his claws as his eyes and tail grew to a tangible shade of impenetrable darkness. “He's the one who's after us! Get him!”

 

“I can't do anything yet, boys,” Hanji said, eyes still scared. “Marco, get off of him. Now.”

 

Marco growled at the man, teeth a mere inch away from that smug grin.

 

“May I get up, please?” he asked, causing a snarl to rip out of Marco, and Hanji to jump up, holding out their hands.

 

“Marco!”

 

Jean watched, torn between wanting Marco to rip the poacher to shreds, and wanting him to back off to let Jean do it himself. This man had been chasing him for years. He had captured and killed and sold so many of his tribe that it was impossible to let him go free without paying the price. Marco saw that; that's why his claws were digging into the man’s coat- but somehow, Hanji couldn't, and they wanted Marco to let him go. 

 

It was another torturous thirty seconds before Marco backed off with a snort, eyes never leaving as he watched the man’s every move. The irritating smile was still in place as the man sat up and grinned to Marco.

 

“Now that wasn't so hard, was it?”

 

“Don't!” Hanji stepped up to stomp their boot down between Marco and the man as he let out a vicious hiss, showing each and every one of his teeth. After they were sure that Marco wouldn't move again, Hanji turned their eyes to his victim with equal distaste. “On behalf of the Shingeki Aquatic Hospital, I apologize for the disturbance,” they bit out. “Please accompany me to the infirmary.”

 

Both mer shot up instantaneously. 

 

“What?!”

 

“Hanji, you can't be serious-” 

 

Again, that dry, asinine chuckle rang out in the air. “No need, my dear lady,” the man said, standing up and wiping off his hat to put back on his head. “But it has been a while. I do think a visit is in order.”

 

Hanji bristled as he addressed them, but held firm in their position as peace keeper while the two mer hissed and screamed their displeasures. Hanji held their head high, eyes burning but voice level. “Not long enough to some opinions.”

 

There was a bang as the main doors to the back open and slammed against the wall. That damn smile. It grew to an almost sinister sweetness as more footsteps approached, and Levi’s voice could be heard demanding an answer. He stopped short at the sight of the man, back turned to him but there was no mistaking the figure standing before him. The poacher turned his saccharine  smile to Levi, and it widened all the more horribly.

  
“Hey there, son.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun, dun, DUN. Another cliffhanger. Surprised? I think not. Sorry? Definitely a no. Fight me >=}
> 
> Seriously though, i love you guys so much for reading with me and sticking it out to the end. I love talking with you guys, you're all precious beans. In all actuality, I'm coming close to the final chapters as it is. I'm thinking somewhere between 20-25 chapters, so I'll just have to come up with something else to keep you amused when I finish. Oh, bother :)
> 
> Funny. I had only meant for this to be a three chapter fluff pot. 
> 
> Oops. Guess plot really does take you places XD
> 
>  
> 
> *edit*
> 
> I gots some doodles
> 
>  
> 
> http://smitty-mouse.tumblr.com/post/164312701116/more-concept-doodles-for-the-fresh-out-of-water


	16. Ruin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the worst time for everything to completely fall apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING! This chapter gets a little trigger happy for non-con drug use and capture. If you find yourself unable to continue reading PLEASE STOP and message me for non-descriptive details. I will tell you everything you need to know without the hard-core details. Please take care of yourself! I love you and want you to be happy <3
> 
> Even if you're not triggered, come msg me anyways so we can geek out together :P

 

 

 

**-Chapter 16: Ruin-**

 

Levi wouldn't talk to anybody. He shut himself inside the kitchen to prepare meals for the aquarian guests living in his hospital shortly after the police had left with Jean’s capturer in an unfortunate lack of handcuffs. As usual, there was nothing available to prove his uncle's crimes, so they let Kenny go. Again.

 

Seeing his Uncle Kenny always left Levi in a more foul mood than ever, but it was even worse when Kenny became chummy with him. The man knew just how to get under his skin; even as he was growing up under Kenny’s care. It was that exact reason that Kenny liked to call him ‘son,’ regardless of how little affection it brought either of them. He simply liked to stir the pot. 

 

So, rather than do what his uncle wanted and cause a scene at another one of Kenny’s successful tricks, Levi locked himself away shelling clams for the evening. He was furious. And he wasn't the only one.

 

“I fucking  _ hate _ that guy!” Eren shouted as he angrily shoved through the swing doors to the back office. “He always has to ruin everything!”

 

“You shouldn't make such a ruckus in here; it's bad for the aquarium,” Mikasa said cooly. “Levi would tell you the exact same thing.”

 

Eren kicked at a bag of sand but said nothing else. Mikasa was right, as usual. The rest of the team had met up as well and were all silently brooding over the cleverness of the poacher and his shady ways of innocence. They all knew he was guilty- even the police did- but without proof, it was merely accusation. Kenny had gone through the same spiel countless times, and still, he wasn't caught because of his carefulness. There was no way he'd allow himself to slip up for their favor. Eren started pacing back and forth around the room, thinking out loud.

 

“What's he want anyway?” Eren grumbled. “Why come now?”

 

“I can think of a few reasons,” Hanji said, voice dark and body language warning others to keep their distance. “For starters, we just announced the Neona’s breeding program. Something that rare can't go unnoticed by someone like him. He had to see for himself.”

 

“An’ we just got Christa, too,” Farlan sighed. “It’ll be a hard time comin’ a’fore we find another Neona if she changes her mind, that's f’sure.”

 

“Not only that, we've lost face,” Petra murmured as she stared at her phone. Video of Marco’s attack on Kenny had gone viral in a matter of minutes, and now the media was exploiting his lapse of composure. Even now, Erwin was fighting off swarms of reporters begging for an interview at the front gates. “People are questioning whether or not it's a good idea to keep Marco in the program anymore because of his behavior. Some don't even want Jean coming in either for instigating it.”

 

“What utter garbage,” Auruo groused. “If it were me, I'd have done the same thing. Maybe with less teeth and a little more class but, nevertheless, I would have made sure Kenny would have been caught.”

 

“With what evidence?” Mikasa asked. “This isn't the first time he's been accused.”

 

“And it won't be the last,” Hanji agreed. “He's slipped through our fingers each and every time. We can't get him unless he's actually standing right smack-dab in the middle of things and even then, he might still find a loophole.”

 

Petra shook her head with a sigh. “We can't focus on that at the moment, he's gone for now. There's no helping it until he pops back up again. In the meantime, we need to fix this,” Petra said, putting her phone away. “We need to gain our popularity back or else the program will fall apart.”

 

Suddenly, Eren stopped pacing in the middle of the room, and his eyes widened much too largely. “That's what he wants,” he whispered, then turned to the others. “That's what he wants! Without the program, the mer can't rebuild their numbers and they stay endangered; which means-”

 

“More profit for him,” Mikasa agreed. “Clever.”

 

“And we fell right for it,” Hanji growled, crossing their arms ever tighter. “This is bad.”

 

Petra sighed again and crossed her arms as well before leaning against a table. “What's worse is that we've lost the mer’s trust. Jean and Marco don't understand our legal system; they can't be okay with us letting their enemy go.”

 

“Well I'm not,” Eren muttered, scowling to the ground. “I hate this. Jean should have been counted as a witness; that whole thing was bullshit.”

 

The room filled with hums and grunts of agreement. Technically, all things considered, Jean was not considered a proper witness due to the simple fact that he was not human. There was no record of his home due to his tribe constantly moving, no state that he was registered to, and not a chance in hell that he had ever signed up for any citizenship tests in order to avoid situations such as these. By law, he couldn't even be considered an illegal alien. In the eyes of the government, he was an animal; and who in their right minds would let a fish stand trial?

 

Aside from that, Kenny Ackerman was a very careful man. He had never been caught because of this. There was never any evidence suggesting his involvement and whatever witnesses to be found either always retracted their statement, or ended up on the back of a milk carton. Alibis and proof were easy to come by, and if ever there was a bust on one of his ‘jobs,’ Kenny was hardly ever on-site. As far as the world could prove, he was a completely respectable business owner to a perfectly legal shipping company. Nothing more- and nothing would ever come of it if his victims remained unchained to the states like that of Jean and his family.

 

“That doesn't matter anymore,” Mikasa muttered. “Armin is talking to Jean right now, I'm sure he can talk some sense into him, and Marco too.”

 

“But what if he doesn't?” Auruo asked. “You can't rely on everything being okay just because-”

 

“I trust Armin.” Mikasa glared right into Auruo’s eyes and straightened her shoulders. “If anyone can fix this, it's him.”

 

Eren nodded, sharing a similar glare with Mikasa. “She's right, have some faith in him.”

 

Petra sighed and patted a hand across the back of her partner’s shoulder. “I think what he means is that you shouldn't put all of your faith in one thing,” she said quietly. “Just think for a moment. How badly would it hurt for you to have all of your hope put into it, just for everything to fail?”

 

“It's not going to,” Eren said stubbornly. “Armin can do anything, he's smart enough to know how to put everything right again. Just believe in him.”

 

Another heavy sigh filled the room, and everyone turned to look at Hanji. “She's right,” they muttered. “It's good to believe in something… but one day, it's going to tear your heart out.”

 

Eren puffed up in anger and readied himself for a full on argument but was stopped by the sound of the swinging door. Armin walked through with his head down, a frown on his face and anger in his eyes. Eren instantly lit up.

 

“Just in time,” he said. “We were just talking about you. How'd it go? Great, right? Will Jean and Marco come out of their cove now?”

 

Armin didn't respond, but simply scowled harder to the floor, and his fists balled up so tightly to his sides that Mikasa could see his knuckles turning white. She tightened her expression as well, clearly seeing how badly upset he was, and asked for him in a quiet voice. He closed his eyes and took a breath, but neither Mikasa nor Eren were ready for his words.

 

“Jean’s going back home.”

 

Silence filled the room, and once again, Hanji was the one to break it with a tired murmur.

 

“Looks like today's the day.”

 

\---

 

Jean reverently watched his mother sleep in the nest he had rebuilt for her. The one she had made before he had come back the first time was clearly done without any effort put into it at all. When he thought about it, compared to the soft beds she had made for him before, the only explanation he could come up with was that she had simply given up. Her son was gone, as was the rest of her blood, and she was being cared for only by the grace of those who had the heart to understand just how much pain she was in. It only made sense, and it killed Jean to think about it.

 

Gently, he brushed his fingers through her hair and smiled softly at the peaceful expression she wore in her sleep. He could never tire of her happiness. Just as gently, Jean leaned down to press his nose to her temple, and stayed there a moment longer than necessary before turning to leave their cove.

 

Moonlight sparkled across the top of the water as he breached for air, and he sighed contentedly at the lack of man-made smells. The outdoors was sorely missed, and he planned to relish in it however long he could. Jean floated pointlessly along the water and sent his thoughts to the moon above. Marco had looked so sad when he had left again.

 

Jean sighed as he swept his webbed fingers along the water to propel himself backward. Marco seemed to fill a lot of his thoughts lately. He wanted to see him again, but knew that that couldn't happen with Kenny on his tail. They could never be happy that way.

 

Bubbles blew out from his gills as Jean continued to float down the stream. He had been absolutely furious when Kenny had been spotted, but more than anything, he had been scared. Scared for himself, scared for his tribe, scared of the poacher himself, but what frightened him most was the thought of him losing Marco. Nothing scared him more than seeing his hunter so close to the one he cherished and thinking that he would never get the chance to see Marco again. It sent a pain through his chest just thinking about it.

 

Marco meant as much to Jean as any other member of his tribe and then some. He wasn't afraid to admit it to himself anymore: he loved Marco. Saying it out loud… that was the tricky part.

 

The sound of a truck slamming it's door spooked Jean under the surface of the water, but he quickly regained his composure to peak his eyes above the surface. A man in a polo shirt waddled out alongside the truck and sighed through a yawn as he opened up the heavy door at the back. Crates filled the cabin from floor to ceiling along the right side of the truck, but other than that, Jean couldn't see anything else from that angle. 

 

It took some effort but the man hoisted a crate over to the water with much too much struggle and kicked the crate over to its side once it was close enough to the water. The moonlight shimmered against the scales of silver fish and the water they came in, and when Jean watched them under the water, they scattered to the depths of the pond. Jean popped back up over the surface, still hiding half of his face under the water, but rose up to completely reveal himself once he recognized the man dumping the fish. 

 

Daz was a sniveling sort of human who spooked easy, and in all actuality, he rather annoyed Jean with his cowardice. It did make for some entertainment when he would scare or tease the man but mostly, Jean couldn't find it in himself to be afraid of such a wimpy human. At the moment, however, Jean didn't mind Daz being in his territory when he was replenishing the fish for Jean’s dinner. After all, that was the main reason for coming out that night.

 

Jean sank below the water to shoot himself over towards the edge of the pond. More fish scrambled to orient themselves as another crate was dumped into the water, and Jean knew that it was now or never. With one powerful kick, Jean forced himself high into the air, and snarled out to the already screaming man below him. Daz fell flat onto his butt as he stared horrified at the giant fish jumping out to eat him alive, and Jean couldn't help but cackle, even when he landed in too shallow waters. Worked every time.

 

“Jean!” Daz shouted. “Again?”

 

“Wouldn't have to if it weren't so easy, now would I?” Jean laughed, then propelled himself onto a perch a few feet up above the water. “What’cha got this time? Hand it over.” Daz still had this horrified look, and he still sat in the mud from where he had fallen before, apparently frozen. Jean didn't like it. “Chop, chop! I'm hungry!”

 

The sudden slap of Jean’s tail against stone snapped Daz back to the real world, and he scrambled up to his feet. He scurried over to the truck and drug out another crate to bring to the demanding mer, but before he could kick it over into the water, Jean held out a hand expectantly. Daz blinked at the claws for a moment before understanding, and popped open the lid to try and catch a fish. It took a few minutes but after some slipping, Daz finally pulled out a small, silver fish and offered it to Jean.

 

The Neona took it without a word and looked at it gaping slowly in his hand, before snatching the tail of it and slamming it down onto the rock he sat on, effectively scaring Daz. Jean looked to the now, dead fish and sniffed at it while Daz sat frozen, afraid to move until Jean seemed satisfied. There were no odd smells, and a little lick told the same story, so Jean began tearing into his dinner. Daz looked about to be sick.

 

“What's wrong with you?” Jean asked, licking some flesh from his lip, and holding back a smirk at how it made the man cringe. “Forget how I eat?”

 

Daz quickly averted his gaze to the ground, still terrified, then just as quickly stood to his feet. “I'll just… leave you be.”

 

Jean snorted. “And miss your company? Who will I vent to?”

 

Shock covered the human for a second before Daz found the ability to move again. “Wait, you want to talk to  _ me _ ?”

 

Again, Jean snorted, and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, you're right. I must be pretty desperate if I'm seeking  _ your _ company.” He stopped eating to look Daz up and down. “Then again, you do make for a good punching bag so, I guess I'm not an entire lost cause.”

 

“What?”

 

“Don't worry about it,” Jean muttered, then held his hand out for another fish. Daz was quicker with his task this time, and once again, Jean studied his dinner before beginning. “What's wrong with you humans? Is it so easy to switch loyalties that quickly?”

 

“Uh,” How eloquent, Daz. “What- I don't know what you're asking me.”

 

“I'm asking why it's so easy for you to say you want to help me, then try to shove me off with a killer,” Jean growled, ripping the belly of his fish with a little too much force. It almost knocked him off balance. “I had gotten along just fine without him finding us for a while, then you lot had to go and ruin that.” He snarled to the ground, chewing quietly. “If I ever see his ugly face again, it'll be too soon.”

 

Daz stood back, eyes wide and watching, and it took him a little longer than he wanted before he could find the courage for his question. “So… what are you going to do about it?”

 

The Neona scoffed, his fingers slowing in their journey through the fish and he blinked a few times to clear his head. “We leave at dawn,” he muttered. “We can't trust you anymore. It was foolish to do so from the very beginning.”

 

A small gasp escaped the human and his fingers instantly began twisting around the others out of concern. He looked around to the ground, the trees, the rocks, anything except for Jean until he finally turned to walk back to the truck. 

 

Jean lazily turned his head to follow him, shoulders slumped and back hunched. Daz seemed to find courage from his posture, and disappeared into the belly of the truck for a few minutes before finally throwing out a large, bundled up duffle bag that looked like it could stretch out to be around six feet long. The human jumped down from the truck and began unfurling it, pulling out water tanks and a cement block from within it. Jean didn't like it.

 

“What's that?” he mumbled through a frown.

 

Daz didn't look at him, just began filling the bag with water. “They'll never think to look in here.”

 

Weight pushed down over Jean’s shoulders, all the way down to his fingers. He shook them to make the feeling go away, but it persisted. That's when the trees started moving. Jean whipped his head over to Daz, but regretted the motion from the dizziness that spread from it, and he wobbled. Daz smiled.

 

“Wow, it really worked,” he said. “I would have bet anything that you would have at least  _ tasted  _ it.”

 

“What did you do?” Jean asked, still struggling to stay upright. The smile grew, and Daz opened his arms to the crate.

 

“Special catch, just for you, Jean.”

 

Hazy, golden eyes widen at the terrifying smile, and Jean flopped over to his side, trying to get away, but he fell off of the rock he was sitting on and landed hard along the ground. Instantly, Daz rushed over to stop the sluggish mer from escaping and scrambled to pull him inland by the tail. Jean clawed at the mud, but without his strength, Daz was easily able to drag him over to the truck, nervously muttering a list of commands under his breath the whole way.

 

Once Daz finally let go, Jean tried to kick away, but any energy he had was slowly slipping away. The world spun, and everything was growing darker as the sound of Daz’s panicked muttering drifted in and out of Jean’s ears. He had to get away.

 

Mud and dirt and grass dug into his skin as Jean began crawling back to the pond. He made it about three feet from freedom before Daz realized how far he had gotten and rushed over to stop him from reaching the water.

 

The two struggled as best a drugged mer and flustered human could, and by a sheer stroke of luck, Jean managed to slap the man right across the face with his tail and flopped away. His victory was cut short, however, when he saw the rope tied around the end of his tail. Daz ran back to the truck to make sure the other end of the rope was secured to the cinder block, but Jean wouldn't give him the chance. Darkness was closing in, and he had to get away before it consumed him.

 

Jean urged himself to go faster, to get away, to find someplace safe; he couldn't allow himself to die today, not before he saw Marco again. Beautiful, sweet, loving Marco… There was no way Jean could die before telling him just how much he loved him first.

 

Inch by inch, Jean used every bit of strength he had to drag himself nearer to the water. He was so close, he could taste it, and when his claws slapped at water, he gasped out in joy. He could do this, he could escape, Marco was so close now. The sound of Daz yelling behind him became muddled, and shadows circled his vision, but Jean went on. With whatever power he could find, he shoved himself into the water, and after one last burst, finally submerged into the safety of the pond.

 

The struggle was something he had never had to work so hard against, but Jean worked to paddle deeper into the water. There was no telling how far he had gotten, but soon enough, the darkness won, and Jean drifted into unconsciousness. 

 

\---

 

His head hurt, and everything was too loud, too bright and smelled far too strong. Whatever this feeling was, Jean never wanted to feel it again. He groaned and tried to turn away from the light, but something kept him still. What was more interesting was the fact that his jaw couldn't move either, as another weight welded it shut. Although it hurt, curiosity won over, and Jean opened his eyes to find out why. When he did, he almost wished that he hadn't. 

 

There, under his eyes was the outline of a muzzle tracing over his nose and down under his jaw, and he could feel the straps running all under his chin and behind his head. Below that, a dusty, metal net lay heavily over his body and tail, and with his arms woven in between the chain links, he could see his hands bound with more metal cuffs that dug into his skin. The water he lay trapped in was stagnant, and reeked of metal and the stale, plastic tank it sat in, making it even harder to breathe underneath the net. Panic set in, and Jean started trying to breathe much too quickly as he struggled to free himself.

 

“You're awake.” 

 

Jean stopped instantly, eyes wide as a man he wished he didn't know stepped up into his field of vision. Kenny bent over with that terrible smile on his face all over again, and locked eyes with Jean, with absolutely no remorse within them whatsoever. 

 

“Hello, old friend.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still un-betad, still on my phone. Honestly, that's probably the best way for me to write right now.
> 
> Sorry for the long wait, I've been working a little more on Fresh lately and haven't really been focusing on Witch, so I'm almost done with Fresh! (Idk how to feel about this D:) It looks like it's going to be a tentative 20 chapters long but I don't want to confirm it just yet. If my book is any indication of my writing, then that 20 can easily grow with how much I ramble X]
> 
> Speaking of, I'm also excited because I have a new editor for my book, so I'll have more time to focus on that. If you're interested at all, the first edition can be found here:
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=L.+A.+SMITH+WRITER%27S+BLOCK
> 
> Don't be fooled by the typo; that really is the first book, and there's an audio version as well. I'm trying to publish book number two now. I'll keep working on these stories as well, but it maaay be a little slower than before. Sorry :/


	17. Regret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jean thinks back upon his last few moments at the aquarium and the events that brought him to Kenny's waiting hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING:  
> Kenny is not very nice in this chapter and gets a little rough with Jean. There is description of how Jean has trouble breathing and the reactions to Kenny's actions. If you feel at all uncomfortable, please stop and I will tell you what happens next. Please take care of yourself.

 

 

 

**-Chapter 17: Regret-**

 

_ “How did I get here? How did I get here? How-” _

 

Over and over again, Jean’s frantic mind begged the same answer in his head the longer he stared at Kenny. His breaths were ragged and short, and his eyes never looked away from the irritatingly pleased smile just above him. Jean was caught, and there was nothing he could do about it.

 

_ “That was the plan all along,” Armin said. “At least, I think it was.” _

 

Armin was right. 

 

Jean watched as Kenny sighed, placing his hands across his lower back for more momentum to stretch. “You know, I kind of missed you these last few months,” Kenny went on. “But, at least I knew you weren't too far away.”

 

Armin. Was.  _ Right. _

 

The smile let slip a small chuckle, and after a glance, Kenny was walking, reaching his hand out towards Jean and practically stalking around the tank. The Neona flinched back as far as he could despite his containments and struggled to get away, but the chained netting draped over his body was simply too heavy. Desperate, Jean began screeching, clicking, whistling- anything he could do to call out for help, but this only served to make Kenny fall into a reserved laugh.

 

“That's right, call your friends,” he purred. “Tell’em all about how much trouble you're in.”

 

Kenny kept his pace deliberately slow to draw out the torture, and set Jean over the edge with nerves. He struggled as best he could, screamed, clicked, trilled-  but it only served to widen Kenny’s deplorable grin. Jean stopped abruptly to hiss at Kenny’s hand when it came too close, but the human didn't falter, and instead flipped a switch on the mask over Jean’s maw. Instantly, whatever angry noises Jean had shouted at Kenny rang in his ears at an unbearable level. He winced, and shut his mouth as tightly as his eyes when the sound echoed in his ears much louder than it had before.

 

“Like it?” Kenny asked. “Designed it myself.”

 

Jean opened his eyes to glare at the man and watched his every step.

 

“See, this mask here is probably one of the prettiest things I've ever laid eyes on,” Kenny explained as he walked around to the other side of the casket-like tank Jean was trapped in. “You want to know the real beauty of this device? Not only does it amplify whatever sound you make and shove it right back into your sensitive little ears, but it records your distress calls… so I can have you personally invite your tribe to come and stay with me for a while.”

 

Jean’s eyes widened in horror, and instantly he tried screaming out false alarms to deny any mer from coming to his aid. Kenny, however, had already thought of this when he had switched the mask on, and now Jean shuddered at the harshness of his voice burning in his ears.

 

“A little late for that now, but you can keep at it if you want,” Kenny chuckled. “Makes it easier to tell where you left off.” He ticked his head in thought, waving away a man from his ‘conversation’ with Jean. “On the other hand, you really shouldn't be all that upset. If you think about it, I'm doing you a favor.” That deplorable smile came back. “I'm the only one who can reunite the family. I know Annie’s missed you. It'd be good to see some color on that old girl again.”

 

_ “We can get her back with your help.” _

 

Jean scowled harder over the mask but didn't dare say another word. Whatever happened, Jean wanted to make sure that Kenny didn't get anymore recordings off of him to use on any unsuspecting mer. There was a gnawing at the back of his head though, something that wouldn't leave him alone, and he had to give in.

 

“They said…” he stopped to lower his voice more, wincing at the direct link to his ears. Kenny paused to lean closer, as though he were doing Jean the courtesy of listening to him. “They said that your name was Kenny… Is that true?”

 

Kenny’s smile relaxed back into that ere of nonchalance as he leaned back to stand tall once more. “Curious about me?”

 

The flicker of gold in Jean’s eyes burned through the man, and it took a lot more control than he had to keep his voice from ruining his ears. “I just wanted to make sure I had the right name to the face of the man who had been ruining our lives.”

 

Kenny hummed in amusement, that same, damn smile spreading across his face with a sigh. “Guess your hostility is still high. A shame, really. We can't let a mer with violent tendencies get close to Annie. Or anybody else, for that matter.” 

 

With that put out in the open, Kenny offered a quiet chuckle through that terrible smile, and leaned over to yank the support under Jean that allowed him to sit up. Without it, the weight of the net dragged Jean down to lie flat on the bottom of the tank. Kenny left him there to walk over to the other side of the room and order his lackeys around, but not before offering one last bit of advice.

 

“You should keep that in mind for the future. It's going to be a lonely trip tonight if you can't behave yourself.”

 

And then he was gone.

 

Despair washed over Jean as the words sank in, and soon, panic followed. ‘Tonight.’ They were leaving ‘ _ tonight _ ,’ meaning that rescue only had the window of now and then before they left. There was no telling how long that would be, even  _ if _ anybody knew Jean was missing. Marco would never know how he felt. Jean shook the thought away and scrambled to find an answer.

 

The room he was in was lit only by a floor lamp behind him, and it shown directly over his lunchbox of a tank. There wasn't much in decoration, but looked to be filled with the overstock of what couldn't fit in the other rooms: mainly, nets and cages and ropes, the stuff of Jean’s nightmares. He stopped looking at them to try and focus on something else, something to calm him down. 

 

A clock could be spotted on the wall through an open doorway, but Jean didn't know how to read it. He stared at it, trying to figure out what the stick next to the two meant but grew even more panicky without any success.

 

The water churned with his movements, unable to keep up with Jean’s breathing and making it harder for him. He forced himself to calm down and took slow, easy breaths to keep himself awake. There wasn't much oxygen left in the water, and he didn't want to use it all up thanks to a panic attack. That paired with the debris from his capture and the rust of the net contaminating the water as well didn't help things period. He was stuck. Jean closed his eyes and counted his breaths. He had to stay calm. Worrying would solve nothing.

 

_ “I know it's scary, but we'll be right behind you.” _

 

Golden eyes opened a bit at the memory. Eren had spent a good portion of an hour trying to coax Jean out of his nook just to clear Levi’s name from association with his uncle. Jean wasn't having any of it, he just wanted Eyebrows to hurry up with Marco so they could be together again, but Eren wouldn't let up. He raged on about how Levi was nothing like Kenny, and that Jean would be stupid to believe otherwise- especially after everything he had done for Jean so far. It was that comment that brought the mer out of hiding.

 

“Stupid enough to listen to you, on that I agree!” Jean shouted. “I should have never let my guard down; you humans are all the same!”

 

“How many times do I have to tell you you're wrong-”

 

“Am I though? As far as I can tell, your lot doesn't do anything for another, it's only for yourselves!” Jean’s claws scratched at the stone he sat upon as he snarled out. “You wouldn't know the first thing about loyalty- about family- nothing!”

 

“Yes I do!” Eren shouted. “And the same goes for the rest of us! That's why you have to know that Levi would never do such a thing, Jean. He'd never.”

 

Jean scoffed. “Levi’s family is the one that’s trying to kill me, how could-”

 

“That's not true,” Eren hissed, eyes burning. “ _ We _ are his family, not Kenny. If Levi could have it his way, he'd have never met the man, but you can't choose your blood. That's why he chose us.”

 

A heavy silence grew between the two as they glared each other down. Finally, Jean cracked. “What are you talking about?”

 

Eren stepped back to relax his shoulders, but his eyes stayed heavy on Jean. “You should know already,” he said. “You and your mom are the only blood you have, but you still have a family through the tribe, right?”

 

Jean’s glare hardened at the mention of his family, but Eren continued on.

 

“Levi’s the closest thing to a dad I've got. He took me in- all of us- when we had nowhere else to go, and he's made damn sure that we were happy; that we never ended up like him.” Eren crossed his arms and sighed, looking away. “No one took him seriously when he first started because Kenny was the one who raised him. I don't have all the details but, from what I can see, Levi never wanted us to be identified because of their blood. He wanted to make sure it was because of the good we've done, and not the bad; he wanted us to make a name for  _ ourselves _ rather than our family's.”

 

Eren stopped long enough to look back at Jean, catching his eyes. “So if you're going to judge Levi, do it through  _ his _ actions and not someone else's. That's all I ask.”

 

The silence went on and grew fairly uncomfortable after that. Both males stared the other down with annoyance, each trying to read the other but failing. It wasn't until Armin showed up that they finally looked away. 

 

“Mind if we talk?” he asked shyly. Eren sniffed and stalked away, leaving the two alone and not even looking back. Armin sat down in place of him and wrapped his arms around his knees with a hum. “Well, that was a nightmare.”

 

“You're telling me,” Jean scoffed. “So when do I go home? Or did you lie about that too?”

 

Armin shook his head. “You're free to go whenever you wish, you're not a prisoner here.” He stopped to look Jean in the eye. “But I'd still like to talk to you.”

 

The Neona huffed, crossing his arms. “Fine. What have you got?”

 

“Well, for starters, I want you to know that we don't have anything to do with Kenny,” Armin said. “But that doesn't mean that I wasn't expecting this.” He looked away from the stinging scowl Jean shot him, but continued on. “Kenny had been quiet for too long; I think he was waiting for us to move first. Announcing the breeding program seemed to have sparked his plan into action.”

 

Jean creased his brow further, eyeing the man. “What plan?”

 

Armin sighed. “The plan to get you out of hiding. You and the rest of your family.” He turned to Jean fully now, speaking with animated hands. “Ruining our name and whatever work the aquarium had done already might have been a perk, but the endgame was to get you scared enough to go back to your tribe so that he could find and capture them. That was the plan all along,” Armin said. “At least, I think it was.”

 

The Neona scowled harder, a bit too confused. “That doesn't make sense. How would he know that would happen unless someone told him?”

 

“Kenny is a very smart man,” Armin admitted. “That's the only reason he hasn't been caught yet.” His eyes turned harder. “However, if we can use that knowledge, we can turn it against him.”

 

“Meaning what, exactly?” Jean didn't like the sound of things, and the look on Armin’s face certainly didn't help.

 

“We can catch him using his own tricks against him,” he said, eyes never leaving Jean. “But… you would be his target.”

 

Jean flaired. “No!” 

 

Armin held his hands up. “I know it's scary, but we'll be right behind you the entire time-”

 

“I said  _ no _ !” Jean hissed. “I'm not being bait- I will  _ never _ allow that man to touch me again!” His eyes burned through Armin. “Get out of my sight. I'm leaving for home. And I'm taking my family with me.”

 

A look of disappointment fell over Armin, but he nodded, and stood all the same to walk away.

 

The sound of men bickering brought Jean back to his prison. He looked to the end of the room and spotted two men arguing over a device in their hands before they finally started over to Jean’s tank. Behind them, the stick on the clock had somehow moved to the number eight, but it still didn't matter if Jean couldn't read it. The approaching men looked to him with a mixture of fear and annoyance before settling down on either side of the tank to look down at him.

 

“Alright, fishy,” the one on the left said. “Be nice and we won't have to hurt you.”

 

Jean’s glare didn't give off any peaceful vibes in the slightest, and the man on the right seemed to know it. “I'm telling you, I can't do this.”

 

“I've got the damn thing under control, Hank, now quit whining and get clipping!” The man on the left shoved a sharp looking trinket that spread over the length of his hand into Hank’s, then readied himself with a crowbar. “Isn't that right, fishy?”

 

Jean hissed loudly, and it burned his ears but the sight of the men jumping back in terror was well worth the pain. The man on the left growled at Jean and lifted the crowbar to strike, making the mer’s eyes widen as he cowered back. Before the man could swing, however, he was stopped by another hand.

 

“What in blazes do you think you're doing, Ernie?” Kenny asked quietly. “I told you to clip’im, not mark the merchandise.”

 

Ernie shrank under Kenny’s gaze, and instantly let go of the crowbar. “Sorry, sir- but he was getting violent.”

 

“Of course it was,” Kenny said simply. “It’s an animal, that's what they do when they're threatened, and it's why I told you to get rid of those things in the first place.” Kenny took the crowbar away without any effort, and without taking his eyes off of Ernie. “However, if we were to hand it over to the buyer with a few extra bruises on it, how much do you think it'd be worth?” Kenny slid the crowbar down in his hand, eyes never leaving Ernie. “You have to get more creative, Ernie. I'm disappointed in you.”

 

Without warning, Kenny kicked the side of the tank full force. Jean convulsed from the shockwaves of the kick ripping through the water, and the sound of the hit rang through his skull like hammers. His head pounded from the vibrations, and his skin crawled as the sound waves bounced off of him. If Jean’s head had hurt before, this was a whole new level of pain. He closed his eyes against it and tried to breathe, but the warm water was still too thick.

 

“That's why you don't tap the glass,” Kenny sighed, offering the crowbar back to Ernie. “Be nice to the fish. Otherwise I don't have any use for you.”

 

The two men watched Kenny go off to work on something else before they finally kneeled back down to work on Jean. This time, when they reached for him, Jean was still reeling from the shock to do anything about it, and the shaking of his fingers informed the men of this.

 

There was a roughness that yanked at his hand and dug the woven chains into his skin. Then, pressure built up over one of his claws, and Jean squirmed once he realized what they were doing. A blast to the side of the tank from the crowbar stopped him, and he shuddered as the men clipped down his claws to nubs.

 

Their hands felt nothing like Marco’s.

 

“Come with me,” Jean pleaded. “You can stay with us, with me. You won't have to stay here anymore.”

 

Marco looked to their entwined hands with a sadness that melted Jean’s heart as he gently rubbed his thumb over the back of Jean’s knuckles. “I can't,” he whispered. “I just… I can't abandon my family.” He lifted his gaze to meet Jean’s. “Would you?”

 

Jean lowered his eyes, not wanting to admit the truth.

 

“I do care about you,” Marco went on, just as softly. “But I haven't seen my family in many moons. I miss them… and the aquarium is the only way I'll ever get back to them safely.”

 

Defeat weighed heavily over Jean, and his shoulders slumped. He slipped his hands away from Marco’s grasp to hold himself, choosing to ignore the pained expression the action placed on Marco’s face. They stayed this way for a while, neither saying anything but not wanting to leave the other. Not if this would be their last time together. It was the sound of footsteps that brought them back to the aquarium, and they both scowled in unison as Levi stepped up with a bucket full of shelled clams.

 

“Here,” he muttered, setting down the bucket. “Have your fill.”

 

“So that's it, is it?” Marco snided. “A poacher gets set free but hey, it's alright, we get an extra bucket of food.” Levi said nothing, but turned to walk away. Marco wasn't having it. “I can't believe you,” Marco growled. “I thought you were better than that.”

 

“Think what you want,” Levi said. “It doesn't matter to me.”

 

“You're lying.”

 

It was quiet, barely a murmur, but Levi heard it all the same, and he stopped. Jean deepened his frown and sat up a little taller. 

 

“It's either you or Eren,” Jean said. “So who is it?”

 

Levi kept his back to the mer. “Whatever Eren said to you-”

 

“He called you family.” Levi stopped at Jean’s intervention. “He said that you chose your family because stuff like this  _ does  _ matter to you.” Jean never took his eyes off of Levi. “So either you're lying, or Eren is. Who’s it gonna be?”

 

The man still had his back to the mer, but Jean could see just how strung up he was. He had been that way all night, but at the mention of Eren’s words, Levi didn't seem to be able to move.

 

“Why did you come out here tonight?” Jean asked, and Levi barely clipped out an answer.

 

“Shitty-glasses refused to take my shift,” he muttered. “Couldn't let you starve.”

 

The frown deepened. “Is that what your uncle would do?”

 

“No.” The answer was instantaneous, and it finally turned Levi around to face the two mer. “He'd keep you alive for business. Can't sell broken goods.” His eyes caught Jean’s, and the mer knew he was speaking the truth. “Kenny will do anything to benefit himself, even if it’s bothersome. Hell, he'd probably force me to be an alibi if he could. He'd do anything to make sure he came out on top. That's just the type of man he is.”

 

Jean soaked in this information, but kept his eyes on the man before him as a thought nagged at him. “So what type of man are you?”

 

A jerk to his hand forced the rusty net to rub against the gills on Jean’s side, and he breathed in a lungful of metallic dust. He coughed violently, his lungs aching as his body trembled from the harsh fit and painful blasts that were brought to his ears through the mask. The two men with him stepped back in fear, now more concerned about the safety of the mer since their boss's latest interaction with them.

 

“Uh, boss?” Hank called. “We've got a problem in here.”

 

Kenny came sighing through the door a few seconds later, entirely too annoyed until he saw how badly Jean struggled to breathe. He hadn't noticed before due to the mer’s mood but the scales on Jean’s tail had taken on a dark grey, and the fins almost looked brown, making Kenny lose his smile. He stepped over to the mer and reached for the mask across Jean’s face to pull him up. 

 

Jean couldn't do anything to resist, and hung limply in Kenny’s grip over his muzzle. The straps of the mask dug painfully into his hair and skin against the weight of the net dragging him down, but Jean couldn't be bothered at the moment. His bleary eyes struggled to stay open, and his mouth fought to breathe air, but the mask was sealed tight against his skin, forcing his gills to flap uselessly under the water to bring in what little oxygen was left. It wasn't so bright anymore, what with the darkness trying to take him under again. 

 

Kenny seemed to notice this as well, and looked to the lamp with a bit of distaste when he realized just how warm the water had gotten in the last hour. He clicked his teeth at the sight of the residual dirt, grass and pebbles left in the water from Jean’s body, and sighed before letting Jean sink back in the water. The men watched as Kenny strode over to the lamp and tilted the light away from the tank, then looked to his watch. Jean looked to the clock as well, and noticed that the stick on it had moved again to land between the ten and eleven. 

 

“Daz,” Kenny called. “You brought him in, yes?”

 

The man could be heard fumbling for an answer in the other room, but he hurried to meet Kenny after being called. “He- he was fine on the way here,” Daz excused. “I don't know what could be wrong?”

 

Kenny studied the man, his smile gone, but voice level and calm. “What water did you use when you put him in the container?”

 

Daz pointed a shaking finger. “Th-the canister that you gave me, sir.” 

 

“I meant when you got here,” Kenny clarified. “Where did you get the water?”

 

Daz swallowed. Kenny’s calm appearance was just that, and it served to send shivers down Daz’s spine. “I just used what he came in with. Poured it from the bag.”

 

Kenny jerked a thumb to the only light in the room.  “You set the lamp up there too?”

 

At this, Daz became confused. “Y-yes… sir… ?”

 

Kenny nodded. Smile still missing. “And did you clean the net?”

 

“The n-net, sir?” Daz asked, eyes wide.

 

“I see,” Kenny said, then held a finger to his chin with a sigh through his nose, the smile finally returning. “I wonder.”

 

Daz was shaking by now. “Wonder what, sir?”

 

“How well you can do your job without any kneecaps.”

 

Silence. Daz wasn't even breathing now. Kenny had never once wavered his voice, had kept it eerily calm throughout the entire ordeal, but it was merely the calm before the storm, and Daz knew it. His eyes stayed opened wide, glued to any movement his employer made.

 

“That's the problem with new help,” Kenny muttered, stepping up to the quaking man. “Everyone forgets just how fucking sensitive these damn fish are.” 

 

Kenny leveled his eyes with Daz and placed a hand over his shoulder. “Bet you didn't know that they need fresh water after travel, did you?” 

 

Daz couldn't move. 

 

“All the air they breathe has been sucked right out of the water,” Kenny explained. “And whatever ends up in the water ends up in their lungs. Which is why I told you to clean the net.”

 

Without any warning, Daz screamed out in terror when Kenny lifted his hand to flick open a lighter he had dug out from his pocket. Kenny held Daz in place with an arm wrapped around his neck and shoulders, unspeakably strong enough to do so without bothering the smile on his lips. 

 

“That lamp can screw things up too,” Kenny went on. “It's about as useless as new employees but given time, in the same location, it can heat up a little bit of stale water.”

 

Sweat slipped down Daz’s neck as he eyed the lighter in Kenny’s hand.

 

“Think of it this way,” Kenny said, voice still silky smooth as he drew the lighter closer to Daz’s face. “You're stuck in a fire and have to breathe in all the smoke that comes from it. There’s no air because the fire took it all away, and now you're stuck breathing in whatever you can. Whatever dust and dirt and debris that comes off of that fire goes right up your nose as well; and damn it all if it isn't hot as hell.”

 

The other two men in the room shuffled back a bit, unnerved at how peaceful Kenny’s voice had become the closer the fire came to their fellow employee.

 

“Now imagine that you're stuck in a box. Let's say just about big enough for you to lie down in.” Kenny’s eyes watched the flame flicker closer to Daz’s skin. “If I were to set that box on fire, you wouldn't be able to breathe in that little thing, now would you?”

 

Daz tried to pull away, but Kenny was insistent on bringing the flame as close to his nose as possible. When Daz finally gave up all hope of getting out without some melted skin, Kenny chuckled. Daz jumped as his boss snapped the lighter closed, and watched wide-eyed as Kenny pat him on the shoulder. The smile went back to relaxed, but Kenny’s eyes dug through to his soul.

 

“Have I made my point, Daz?” he asked quietly. Daz nodded, not daring to move. “Good.” With that, Kenny released Daz, and walked away without pause as the man fell to his knees. “Be quick about it, Daz; he's quite uncomfortable.”

 

Hank and Ernie stiffened as Kenny stepped over to them but made no sudden movements. Meanwhile, Daz had scrambled out of the room to fix his mistake as quick as he could. Jean struggled to keep his eyes open, he knew he had to stay awake, but it was so hard. He could barely last long enough to see that awful smile again before he gave in and let his eyes slide shut.

 

“Is the truck loaded?” he heard Kenny ask.

 

“Y-yes sir, ready to go on schedule,” Hank replied. “The others have already made it to the pond.”

 

“Good. Make sure he doesn't screw it up this time,” Kenny said. “My client won't approve of sushi, and I can promise you that  _ ‘Jean’  _ there won't be the main dish if Daz fails again.”

 

“Of course, sir,” Ernie said, a noticeable waver in his tone. “Ah, are you leaving?”

 

A small chuckle filled the air. “You can't expect me to be at the pond right after being interrogated by the police; what would the neighbors think?” Kenny said matter of factly. “I think it's time I go and visit my nephew, don't you?”

 

 _“He'd_ _probably force me to be his alibi.”_

 

Jean opened his eyes, managing somehow to find the strength to see what little affection lay in Kenny Ackerman’s eyes. The determination, however, matched that of his nephew’s.

 

“That's not something I can answer for you; you know that,” Levi said, keeping his eyes steady with Jean’s through his answer. “What kind of man I am… That's something only you can choose for yourself.”

 

Jean frowned at the man, but considered his words. Then, after a moment, he looked to Marco, who had stayed quiet throughout the whole ordeal. Marco returned his gaze with concern held only for Jean. 

 

The Neona had nothing to gage his long term experience on thanks to his interfering emotions, but as far as the Spotted mer went, Jean was grateful that Marco was so well taken care of. His home was protected, his family safe and his future spared, all because of a single group of humans that he had decided to take a chance on. One that had inadvertently lead him to Jean as well. Now, it was time for Jean to take a chance.

 

Jean turned back to Levi, the man who had started it all, who had enforced Marco’s safety and everything with it, and looked him right in the eye.

 

“Alright,” he said. “Tell Armin… I'll do it.”

 

The big stick on the clock touched the twelve, and suddenly, and without warning, the front door exploded.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me and these cliff hangers, man. I have no regrets. However, you may have noticed that the final chapter count is up because yes, I did finish writing Fresh and I have a huge hole in my heart now because of it. Sooo, I'm going to drag this out as long as I can with each chapter posted for Name of a Witch in the meantime :P
> 
> I also have doodles for this chapter and a few others that I need to color before I share, and on a lighter note, have plans for side stories if I can find the time so fingers crossed! We may see epilogue stuff!
> 
> Let me know what you think, I love talking with you guys ^_^
> 
> ***edit***
> 
> Doodle #1 for the time being: 
> 
> http://smitty-mouse.tumblr.com/post/165709694081/kennys-mask-from-ch17-in-fresh-out-of-water-more


	18. Retaliate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here they come to save the day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: There is mention of Jean struggling to breathe in this chapter. If ever at all you're uncomfortable, please stop reading and msg me. We'll talk about the chapter without detail :)
> 
> So that 2am thing didn't work out BUT I posted as soon as I woke up from my zombied state X)
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> As always, written on my phone and unbetad so typo to your heart's content

 

 

 

**-Chapter 18: Retaliate-**

 

Light burst through the room like lightning, and a terrible ringing drew out in Jean’s ears as chaos ripped through the room. Daz’s head could be seen being pushed into the dirt from the doorway, while swarms of humans clothed in black tracked down the rest of the men. Ernie and Hank went down screaming, but Kenny merely held his hands up, an annoyed sigh falling from his lips. The men in black aimed weapons at him, ordering him to get down with the others, and with a dark smirk, Kenny slowly complied.

 

“Area secured,” one man shouted. “Hostage recovered, bring in the team.”

 

Jean weakly opened his eyes to the madness before him and struggled to comprehend what was happening. The humans in black carted off his captors in metal bonds identical to the ones on his wrists, and a few of them had surrounded the tank he sat in trying to speak with him. Others were taking pictures and looking through anything that opened, but for the most part, it seemed like the men in black were scared to touch Jean, let alone help him. He whined quietly to them, both for his ears sake as well as he didn't know if he could trust them. It wasn't until he heard Armin screaming his name that he realized hope was something he could hold onto.

 

He recognized the feel of Eren’s hands on his shoulders and closed his eyes in relief as he was lifted to sit up. It took a moment to get all of the straps undone, but once the mask was off, Jean took in a great gasp, collecting the air he had been denied into his lungs. Mikasa slipped the mask into an evidence bag for a woman in black, which was quickly (and thankfully) taken away out of sight. Eren held Jean’s head above the water as he coughed, but Jean was just so grateful to breathe again that he hardly noticed the team trying to talk to him.

 

“Thick,” he gasped, trying desperately to gather air into his lungs. 

 

Armin nodded, understanding immediately. “Get this water out, he needs air.”

 

A man in black looked to Armin and the others, confused. “But he's a fish-”

 

“Trapped in an unoxygenated tank that most likely has also been tainted by that rusty net he's handcuffed to.” Mikasa had never looked more serious. “Get him out. Now.”

 

“Wait a second, Mikasa” Eren frowned to the water. “I don't think that's such a good idea- at least not until we get this net off of him. The water may actually be helping to keep some of the weight of it off of him.”

 

Armin cursed. “This water is basically drowning him; how stupid can they get?”

 

“It's really warm, too,” Eren commented. “I thought Kenny was supposed to be some expert; this is basic care.”

 

“He wasn't the one who did this.” Levi stepped up with another officer by his side and immediately kneeled down next to Jean to get to work examining the Neona’s health. He quickly looked to the officer he came in with and ticked his head to Jean’s handcuffs. “Got anything to get that off’im?”

 

The officer nodded. “We've got some options.”

 

His vision was hazy, and a little lopsided in Eren’s hands but Jean couldn't stop staring at the officer that had begun pulling keys out of his pockets. Levi was quick to check on Jean’s vitals but even when a little flashlight was flashed into his pupils, Jean still couldn't look away.

 

“You,” Jean’s voice was weak, but he studied the man as his cuffs were worked on. “I know you…”

 

The officer smiled to him, still fiddling a key to the cuffs. “I'm surprised you remember me.”

 

“Jean’s got an annoyingly good memory when it comes to faces, officer Kirstein,” Levi supplied, pouring a lukewarm water bottle over Jean’s neck and chest to bring some relief to the mer. He nodded to the cuffs again. “Any luck?”

 

“No,” the policeman sighed, then stood to leave, taking the man in black with him. “I'll be right back.”

 

“Hurry.” Levi never took his eyes off of Jean.

 

Armin looked to him as well, and shame covered his features. “I'm so sorry, Jean,” he whispered. “I didn't think he'd risk hurting you.”

 

“He didn't,” Levi barked again. “This was the work of someone uneducated. He probably left the job to some newbie, but worrying about it isn't going to solve anything so shut up and get to work.”

 

Armin nodded, face still stern as he stood to leave with Mikasa. “Right.”

 

Levi noticed the plastic brace on the floor and the incision at the back of the tank that matched it in size. He quickly snatched it up and instructed Eren to raise Jean a little higher in order to slip it through, allowing Jean to lay back on it without the need of Eren’s support anymore.

 

“Go help those two grab the water tanks from the van,” Levi ordered. “I'll take care of things here.”

 

And then, they were alone. Save for the men in black taking pictures of everything. 

 

Jean turned his head to watch Levi scoop out cup fulls of contamination from his tank, still gasping for air. His gills flared uselessly in the open air, and even in the water beneath him, but Levi worked tirelessly to remove whatever debris he could from around Jean’s gills. Still. It wasn't enough.

 

“Levi,” Jean wheezed, panting weakly. “Tell Marco… I'm sorry… for leaving him alone again.”

 

“Tell him yourself,” Levi groused. “I'm not your messenger.”

 

Before Jean could rebuttal, officer Kirstein had returned with the man in black, each carrying an armload of supplies. 

 

“Here,” he offered an oxygen mask to Levi and snagged a small wire cutter from his colleague. “Figured these should do the trick.”

 

Levi quickly strapped the mask over Jean’s face and watched as the two men worked to cut the handcuffs off. They struggled for a while, but they barely made a dent.

 

“We'll need something bigger,” Levi said, but quickly turned back to Jean when he started coughing. He looked to the water, still irritating the mer before a thought grabbed him and he looked to officer Kirstein. “You got any more of these?”

 

The policeman nodded, then spoke to his collar. “Can I get a few more tanks in here?”

 

“I'm on it,” the man in black said, then ran off, passing Eren and Armin along the way.

 

For the next hour, the team worked on removing the water from Jean’s tank and cleaning his gills. The man in black had returned with a pair of giant bolt cutters that easily snipped through the handcuffs, and the extra oxygen tanks were put to use blowing bubbles against Jean’s abused gills once he was safely secured in one of the Aquarium’s pop-up tanks; complete with fresh water.

 

Jean had slipped into unconsciousness during the move, but even in his sleep he could feel the weight of the net being lifted from off of his chest and breathed in deep. The sudden, fresh water dizzied his head, and the oxygen tickled his skin, but he could breathe. He could finally breathe. It was that realization that he woke up to as his eyes took in the familiar sight of the hospital. The sound of struggle was his second realization.

 

“Marco,” Jean gasped, and turned to look to the doorway. “Marco!” His voice was raspy, but loud enough for the ruckus in the other room to stop.

 

“Jean!”

 

“Marco!” Jean struggled to sit up, but another voice stopped him.

 

“Don't you dare get up!” Levi warned. “We're coming to you.”

 

At that, Marco was pushed through the swinging doors on a trolley, his own tank sloshing from the Spot’s excitement. The two mer clicked and squeaked and reached for each other even with so much space between them, but as soon as they were within arm's reach, Jean was clawing at Marco to pull him in.

 

“I'm sorry,” Jean gasped, practically dragging Marco into his tank. “I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry! I can't do this anymore, I don't want to leave you!”

 

“Jean, you're okay,” Marco sobbed. “You're okay, you're okay, you're okay-”

 

They clung to each other, having already slipped into the same tank to not put any space between the two as they buried their tears within the other’s skin. The team left them on their own to be reunited, and for a long while, all the mer did was hold onto the other with quiet sobs. 

 

“I'm never leaving you again,” Jean whispered. “I don't care what I have to do, I'm not leaving you.”

 

“We'll figure it out,” Marco promised, tracing his fingers through sandy blonde hair. “Whatever happens, we'll be okay.”

 

Jean pulled away just far enough to look Marco in the eye, tears still glistening. “Marco, please,” he said quietly, placing a hand over Marco's cheek. “Please be with me. All I could think about was you; how I'd never get to see you again- how I never told you-” he bit back a sob, and took a breath to try again. “I never told you how much you mean to me. How much I care about you, how much I love you. I can't go another day without letting you know, so please,” he rubbed his thumb under Marco’s eye to wipe away a tear. “Please let me be with you.”

 

Marco smiled throughout the entire confession, his tears flowing freely where Jean couldn't catch them. He nodded to Jean, and pulled him into a kiss before pressing his nose against the other mer’s.

 

“Of course,” he whispered. “Of course Jean, I want to be with you too.”

 

They twined their tails together even tighter and held on with no remorse, whispering sweet nothings to the other as time passed easily by. Marco was careful to avoid any sore spots Jean may have had, but he couldn't stop himself from tracing the scars and bruises left behind from the net or muzzle, and left kisses over the ragged stumps that were left of Jean’s claws. When he saw the rope burn over Jean’s tail where Daz had dragged him out of the water, he gently rubbed a soothing hand over that as well, and cursed the flighty man to the end of his days at the sight of the wounds.

 

Jean let Marco touch every part of him, closing his eyes and sighing contently at the stark contrast of abuse the previous feeling of hands had left on him. They stayed like this for hours, totally at peace, and slowly, the color returned to each mer in turn. After a long time, their grip began to lax, but the space between them was nonexistent, and it was this that Hanji came back to long after the sun had risen.

 

“Good morning, you two!” Hanji chirped. “How are things?” Marco wrapped tighter around Jean, protecting him with his arms and tail, and tried to scare off the human with a hiss before he could stop his instincts. Hanji laughed. “That good, huh?”

 

“Sorry,” Marco growled, not looking one bit sorry in the least as he scowled to Hanji and clung tighter to Jean. “Not ready to let him go yet.”

 

Hanji waved him off. “Cuddle to your heart's content, friend.” They held up a big, brown envelope. “I come bearing good news!”

 

Jean wriggled some space between he and Marco just enough to get comfortable again, but snuggled up to his chest once more as they settled. “If that's Kenny in that envelope then I'd say it really is good.”

 

Another laugh belted out of Hanji. “Not quite, but I'd love to find a way to make him fit,” they said with a dark grin. “At the moment, he's rotting away in a cell where he belongs and the evidence just keeps piling up. We’re close to figuring out his transcripts too, so his shipping documents can lead us straight to Annie  _ and  _ that two-bit circus.” Hanji held out their arms with a wide smile. “And as fabulous as all this is, that's not even the end of it!” 

 

They held up the envelope again, turning to switch on a light on the wall. “Your cat scan showed no internal damage, your ears are safe and these babies here are x-rays of your lungs with no evidence of permanent damage.” Hanji dug out the x-rays to put up on the light and smiled back to the two cuddling mer. “So, aside from the whole ‘life-or-death’ thing, you came out pretty unscathed.”

 

Marco frowned at the lit up pictures Hanji was so proud of. “What's that one spot down there?”

 

Hanji turned to look, then brightened even more. “Ah! That's the GPS tracker Jean swallowed in order for us find him.” They turned back to the mer, putting their hands on their hips. “You'll pass it through in about a week. Until then, I'd advise no strenuous activity.” They winked. “Doctor’s orders.”

 

Jean looked to Hanji, but kept pressed up to Marco’s chest. “What's gonna happen next?”

 

Hanji’s smile softened, and they folded their hands behind their back with a hum. “Well, for starters, would you rather be a witness or evidence?”

 

The Neona became confused. “What?”

 

They smiled again, and sat down on a swivel chair. “That paperwork you filled out with Erwin was more than just the spawning program,” Hanji explained. “He's already called in a few favors to get your registration pushed through so that you're a ward of the state. Specifically with us but, we won't hold you hostage.” Their eyes lit up to Jean. “This means you can testify against Kenny if you want to, rather than just use the pictures taken at the scene. Kenny’s going to be locked away as it is, but with your help, we can pin him to the other raids and keep him there a lot longer than he wants to be.”

 

Jean frowned, absentmindedly sinking closer into Marco. “Sign me up. I never want to see that man free again.”

 

“You sure?” Hanji asked, voice soft. “It's going to be pretty scary.”

 

The Neona looked up to his partner, fingers easily finding the freckled match before turning back to Hanji. “Nothing could be scarier than knowing he's free.”

 

Hanji’s grin widened, and they nodded. “Alright then. I'll let’em know.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YUS! Kenny getting his comeuppances, booyah! Oh that felt good to write.
> 
> Lemme know what you think, I love talking with you guys!
> 
> And now, off to work T-T


	19. Rollick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rollick: to act or behave in a jovial fashion
> 
> I promised you a happy ending :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I finished writing the next chapter of Witch and allowed myself to go ahead and post this chapter without Witch because I totally can't stop wanting to share these fishy babies with you. Only one more chapter left OH NO D:

 

 

 

**-Chapter 19:Rollick-**

 

 

The team all crowded around the television with the courtroom skyped in on screen. The guards posted on either side of it waited for the verdict to be announced so that they could finally pack up the equipment for good and go home. This place reeked of fish. 

 

Jean held Marco’s hand in a vice-like grip as they waited, and Connie held Sasha’s just as tightly. The whole room was tense.

 

For the past few months, everyone had to be on their toes. The guards had to remain impartial as they set up the camera to let Jean be a witness, and during that time, he had to be alone with them and his lawyer every time he had to speak. It rattled everyone's nerves but once he was no longer on the stand, the aquarium was quick to find comforts for everyone.

 

Because of the trial, the spawning program had to be put on hold before any other Neona could be admitted to the hospital, and now they were cutting it close. If Kenny walked off with a handful of years, the whole thing would have been a waste of precious time, but Jean knew he had done the right thing regardless. He could sleep at night because of it. Now, after so long, they were finally going to hear if their hard work had paid off.

 

An older man Jean had learned to be the judge came back to his seat and started rambling nonsensical things that flew right over Jean’s head and set his spines aquiver. Marco was no better, but he took a moment to lay down the spines along Jean’s neck and gave him a reassuring smile. He waited a moment to catch Jean’s gaze before offering a reassuring smile and lightly touched the mate mark along his partner’s neck. Marco’s fingers traveled from the mark to gently caressed Jean’s face, allowing the Neona to nuzzle into Marco’s palm in a silent promise of forever before turning back to the television.

 

It was confusing, to say the least, but when Hanji jumped up with a great, whooping cry of joy, Jean figured it to be good news. Connie burst into tears as he was shaken recklessly by Sasha from his shoulders, the maid screaming the whole time. Petra danced around in circles with Auruo held close to her chest, and Izzy and Farlan jumped up and down as one with Bindi pressed carefully between them for a bone crushing hug.

 

While the whole room burst into hysterics as Kenny was led away in handcuffs on the screen, he stopped to catch Levi’s gaze through the camera with a smirk. Levi didn't bother with a response, he simply stood and turned to walk away, not bothering to give his uncle the desired reaction. Hanji was quick to wrap him in a violent hug after that, which he begrudgingly allowed with minimal struggling.

 

The rest of the room and their joy disappeared in swirls and bubbles as Jean wrapped around Marco with glee, the two chirping joyously with the other and spinning around in the tank. They quieted only long enough to press kisses to their lips and giggled out bubbles from under the water.

 

Today was a good day.

 

\---

 

“Is she here?” Jean asked, swimming back and forth at the quarantine glass. “She should have been here by now.”

 

“Relax, love,” Marco cooed. “They walked off only a few minutes ago to the van, they'll need time to-”

 

As though to prove him wrong, the universe spread open the back doors to the hospital, and carted Annie inside on a trolley. Behind her, two more Neona were wheeled in as well, but rather than the usual panic or fighting spirit that could easily be found in any Neona, all three lay quietly in their tanks with a foul, bored or scared look on their faces. Jean instantly lit up.

 

Trills and chirps filled the room as Jean called out to his old friend, and once she heard him, Annie’s expression changed. She looked to him with wide eyes, not quite believing what she was seeing, but Jean couldn't stop smiling. Behind him, Sasha burst through into quarantine as well, having heard Jean’s exclamations and hurried to see for herself. Sasha's enthusiasm, once she saw Annie, equally matched that of a child on in their birthday with daddy's MasterCard. 

 

Annie watched the two with wide, blue eyes in absolute amazement and a bit of confusion as to why or how their scales were so vibrant. Her own scales barely had any color at all and her skin had grown fairly pallor as of late. She couldn't entirely understand how her friends could look or act so happy in the hands of humans. At the same time, though, she was happy to see them after such a long time apart, and for a moment, the slightest bit of color touched her scales before she looked away, not quite ready to face her tribe mates. Armin offered a knowing smile before turning to the excitable mer in quarantine.

 

“We're going to do check ups first, guys,” he told them. “We won't be long.”

 

Jean growled out a sigh of disappointment right alongside Sasha’s. “Hurry  _ up _ , Armin!”

 

“I know, I know,” he laughed, still carting the mer away with Eren and Mikasa. “Safety first though. You know how it goes.”

 

It took them an eternity to check on Annie and the others. Jean had the slightest suspicion that the humans were holding them a little longer than necessary, but shook the thought away when Armin came back.

 

“They're asleep,” Armin informed. “We're letting them stay in the nursery for now. They seem to be more comfortable back there all together.”

 

Jean snorted a noseful of bubbles while Sasha put her hands to her hips. “She's more comfortable with them instead of us?” she asked. “How messed up is that?”

 

“It's not, really, when you think about it,” Armin told her gently. “They've been through a lot together; I'm sure they found comfort in each other in whatever way they could.” He looked over his shoulder as if looking for the new guests. “All of this may be a bit too much for them right now. They need to gather their own thoughts and conclusions before they understand that this place isn't like the circus.”

 

Jean huffed and crossed his arms but agreed all the same. It only made sense that he and Sasha should give the three newcomers some extra space until they could settle. That idea lasted up until dusk. 

 

The two mer snuck out to the nursery and easily jumped over the barricade that separated it from the habitat. They both knew Annie was not a social butterfly, and were concerned with how long she had had to live without the comforts of sleeping with a fellow family member. That pleasure was one of the highlights of the tribe, and she had been denied it for a few seasons now. Jean frowned at the thought of Annie curled up on her own for sleep and couldn't stop the pang of guilt for not rescuing her sooner, but when they finally arrived, he and Sasha were surprised to find Annie nestled comfortably between the two male mer.

 

Upon closer inspection, mate marks could be seen on all three of the Neona, and it was then that Jean and Sasha realized that in the midst off trying to survive, Annie had made her own family. As cold and picky as she had been during their youth, they had no doubt that she had chosen the right mer for herself. She wouldn't have accepted anything less than the best. With that thought in mind, Jean and Sasha waited for her off to the side of Annie’s resting place.

 

It was the sight of Jean and Sasha curled up asleep a few feet away from her nest that Annie had woken up to in the middle of the night. She blinked to them, slightly confused but not at all surprised. Her eyes trailed over her two tribe mates, looking to them with a longing she had not felt in quite a while.

 

“You should go sleep with them,” a deep voice whispered. “It's been a while.”

 

Annie turned her eyes to Reiner, not needing to say a word.

 

“Don't gimme that,” Reiner said. “It's alright. I know you want to.”

 

The maid looked away, not wanting to admit he was right because she felt at home right where she was, but the sight of her family tugged at her aching heart. Slowly, Annie crept over to the two Neona off to the side and laid down with them. Her eyes, however, stayed with her mates.

 

“You look so small,” Berthold said, raising his head. “Would you like us to join you?”

 

Annie thought for a moment, but she had her answer already, and they knew it too.

 

Reiner and Berthold quietly left the nest they had made and slipped over to the slowly growing pile of Neona. On accident, Berthold had brushed up against Jean and knocked his and Sasha’s heads together, causing the two to wake and grumble in pain. Berthold froze in fear, but Jean merely raised his head up to plop back down on Berthold’s tail, and promptly fell back to sleep on his new pillow. Meanwhile, Sasha stretched out and away from Jean to wind herself around Annie, and nuzzled into the crook of her neck, not really minding Reiner’s own tail behind her as a barricade that cradled her head.

 

Berthold, Annie and Reiner all looked to one another, a little surprised by the instant acceptance but quickly settled in for sleep. Reiner took the initiative to use the upper part of Jean’s tail to rest his head on while curling his own tail to allow Berthold, Annie and Sasha a safe place to rest their heads as well. Meanwhile, Annie stretched her arm out and around Sasha, clinging to the maid for warmth but also allowing her hands to seek out one of Berthold’s and Reiner’s hands before all five mer fell back into a much more comfortable sleep.

 

\---

 

Marco met with Jean every morning from then on to smother his mate in his scent. As much as he wanted to keep Jean all to himself, he knew that coveting his mate in such a way would be too cruel and harmful in the end. In a way, it made him feel like Kenny, only claiming and owning and never considering the feelings of others. 

 

So, with that disgusting thought in mind, Marco let go of Jean each night to go and sleep with his family. Annie and her mates looked to him warily each time he came around, but Jean could only ever greet him with a smile. That much, at least, felt good. Still, as he watched his mate swim away, there was always that sting of loneliness and abandonment while Jean left Marco on his own.

 

Marco curled up alone in his nest once again after bidding his lover a good night and simply laid there with a hefty sigh that blew bubbles straight to the ceiling of the cove. He had planned on brooding himself to sleep again when he heard the sound of swishing water from around the corner. Just as Marco sat up to investigate, Jean appeared in the mouth of their nest with a tired smile.

 

“Hello, love,” he said quietly.

 

“Jean!” Marco quickly swam over to his mate with a bright smile and enveloped him in a tight hug. “Did you forget something?”

 

“No,” Jean shook his head, ending the motion by nuzzling his nose into Marco’s temple. “No, I’m here for you.”

 

“Me?” Marco asked, confused. “But, sweetheart, the others-”

 

“Are most certainly not ready to deal with a strong male like yourself,” Jean interrupted. “However, they also know how much I love you, and how much I’ve missed you.” He nuzzled along Marco’s skin until he reached the soft of his jaw beneath the ear. “They told me to quit moping and come sleep with you since I had no obligation to do anything else otherwise. So, that’s what I’m doing.”

 

A chaste kiss was placed against Marco’s skin, and it brought on a smile. “But, your family…”

 

“They’ll still be there when we wake up. Besides,” Jean pulled away to look up at Marco with a smile so warm and content, Marco couldn’t help but respond with a copy of his own. “You’re my family now, too.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IDK how I'm going to get those side stories written but by golly I want to. We shall see.
> 
> Tell me what you think! Any chance to talk with you guys makes me smile ^_^
> 
> Also, IDK why but for some reason people seem to want to ask for permission to draw fan art and I don't know why they feel the need for permission because OF COURSE you can! Link me and I'll share it!


	20. Respawn (Epilogue)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue.
> 
> Emergency rescue. 10:04am.
> 
> My, how far we've come since then.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the long wait! LIfe, work, writer's block for Witch and the holidays are to blame for this one. This was the first year in a long time since I could pass out candy to kids so i was excited and got a little carried away... I'm already working on the little side chapters to continue this story, so the fish-babies will live on! Go ahead and enjoy for now, I'll save my thanks and links to fan-art for the end notes :]
> 
>  
> 
> Still unbetad, still on my phone. Help. Me.

 

 

 

 

 

**  
  
  
  
-Chapter 20: Respawn-**

 

The spawning program had to be rushed in order for it to happen in a natural time limit. At first, the tribe of the second female Neona had been insulted, as their candidate was the youngest of their princesses, but she soon eased their minds with a carefully crafted speech about working together for a better, bigger future. Meaning that she ‘formally’ screeched at the group who believed that making a princess wait was equally criminal as the mer-murdering beast that the team had worked to put away, and she quickly changed their minds with her sharp words. Ymir was smitten on sight.

 

The young princess was named was Christa, and she was a little spitfire if Ymir had ever seen one. She was small, delicate and drop dead gorgeous, but the fire in her eyes made Ymir completely tongue tied each time she saw her. Christa didn't even bat an eye though, and smiled brightly to the funny, spotted mer that melted under her gaze. It didn't even phase her when Ymir asked to be mates once the season was over, but her scales and fins shimmered to a sweet, pastel blue and yellow when she saw just how jealous Ymir had become of Jean for having the chance to share a child with ‘the love of her life.’

Sasha offered real advice on how to court Christa for Ymir’s sake while Hanji and Jean conspired against her, both for scientific research and revenge on Jean’s part. Thankfully, Christa was not as dense as some other mer who shall not be named and caught on to Ymir’s charm fairly quickly. 

 

Marco was a little more touchy-feely after all of the new mer had arrived. Most likely due to the smell of other mer on Jean that was most certainly  _ not _ Marco, but other than that, he was rather civil. Especially considering that instincts were growing stronger with the season drawing near. 

 

As time passed, the changes became more evident. Jean and Marco were a bit short with the others and kept snatching things to spruce up their new nests. The females were just as jumpy, and would often space out in thought for minutes at a time. Meal times had multiplied as their bodies prepared for the upcoming strenuous activities, and more often than not, it was common to see a mer fall victim to a random, often unorthodox napping area.

 

Even with the time crunch, Annie, Reiner and Berthold were given their own section of the nursery once it was learned that she had spawned early. Reiner and Berthold had nearly drowned Hanji when they had come too close, and it was then that Hanji saw the eggs. Right away, Hanji blew up from excitement and prattled on about testing the eggs to monitor their health, but the three Neona were quick to turn them down. It took quite a bit of convincing, but eventually the three had calmed down enough to stop hissing at the humans once the team had backed away far enough. 

 

With the first round of eggs already laid, though, there was no safe way of returning Annie back to her tribe in the pond until the babies had come of age. That being said, neither Reiner nor Berthold were going to leave her behind while she finished laying them.

 

It didn't take long after that for the rest of the mer to begin spawning. Jean and Marco were just as protective over their eggs as Reiner and Berthold were, causing a few problems at first. At times, Jean and Marco had to stop and remind themselves that they were not a threat to the other mer’s offspring, and allowed each other to help protect their eggs. Eventually, they had come to view the differing eggs as their own, regardless of the father, and eased into a routine between the two of them that allowed one to sleep or eat while the other guarded.

 

For about a week, the females would return each day to lay a few more eggs for the males to guard, but once they had finished, they had taken over the position of educators in the absence of Jean and Marco. After thoroughly resting between lays, each maid took turns speaking with audiences when they came and did their best to answer whatever question the humans may have had- including why it was the male's job to care for the eggs after they had been laid or fertilized. Really, the only one who was any good at it was Ilse, and sometimes Christa when Ymir wasn't hanging all over her. Ymir was just a bit too rude and Sasha spoke only of food, but they all managed to get by somehow.

 

Periodically, the mer would have to empty their nests of the eggs that didn't make it. Each egg was about the size of a softball, and could easily display the life growing inside of them; but It also showed when that life had gone away. It was a sad day for all when another egg had failed to survive, and everyone would try a little too hard to lighten up the atmosphere. It never really worked.

 

Each time an egg needed to be taken, it never ended well. Jean would silently stare as Marco took another one of his eggs and gave it to the team to be respectfully removed, his eyes and scales as dark and sullen as the grave. He would remain silent up until it was gone, then his temper shortened, and his mood fouled even further as he cursed the universe. Very few could calm him.

 

When it happened to Marco, he would need to be held and reminded that it was not his fault. Jean’s gentle cooing and tender touches helped Marco to cope, but it didn't stop the guilt of failing as the main protector of his young. All he and Jean could do was remind himself to protect the other eggs with everything he had, just like he had been doing, and not give up on the ones who survived.

 

Annie, who was already a little on the unhealthy side, took it especially hard when two or three of her eggs would have to be carted out of her nest everyday. She didn't speak much. Reiner and Berthold were no better.

 

When it finally came time for the eggs to hatch, though, not a single being could contain their excitement, and joy rang out with each successful birth. All their hard work paid off with a heaving wave of contentedness and relief as the babies were announced one by one. In total, there were eight healthy frylings between the mer.

 

Marco and Ilse ended up with a boy and a girl that were quickly named Moblit and Maria after Ilse’s favorite characters in a book she had read. She was absolutely delighted to see the two of them well and sprightly, already showing signs of intelligence. Hanji noticed this as well, and unintentionally fell head over heels for Moblit when he tried to inspect their glasses with his tail.

 

Ymir, however much she would deny it from then on, was crying tears of joy and pride at the sight of her two daughters Rosie and Sina. Marco was quick to bond with all of his children, but shy, little Rosie had stolen his heart when she grabbed his claw the first time that he held her and looked to him with big, curious eyes. Sina took after her mother, the reality of this fact an instant case when she shoved Moblit away from Rosie after he made her whimper. Ymir couldn't have been prouder.

 

Christa was absolutely elated with the birth of Historia. Her daughter with Jean looked exactly like her, including Christa’s brilliant smile. The only evidence of Jean in their daughter were Historia’s vibrant, golden eyes, and Christa would spend hours staring into them with all of the love she could give.

 

Sasha was more excited than anyone- well, maybe except for Hanji- because she and Jean had managed the impossible. Their sons Sonny and Bean were the first healthy, natural born Neona twins in recorded history. Born of the same egg, the two brothers became instant stars even before they had hatched. Sasha doted on her boys like no other, and Jean soon found himself the most rowdiest of playmates he had ever had in his life. Neither he nor Sasha could have been happier.

 

Annie and Berthold had managed to save a single egg, and when the team tried to see their fryling, they hid away deep within their nest. Reiner guarded his family with his life and never allowed a single being past his boarders. They had lasted a week before Annie and Berthold crawled out of their hole, a little on the skinny side but begging for help with their son when he couldn't stop coughing.

 

Annie handed over her baby with the same dread in her features as when an egg had to be taken from her nest, never taking her eyes off of her beloved son through her goodbye before Levi and Hanji took him in to be checked over. He was slightly malnourished, and had a sore throat but, was otherwise healthy. It wasn't until Levi had returned the fryling back to his mother that things had started to click. All three mer looked to Levi and Hanji with astonishment, but quickly snatched back their child before backing away.

 

“So what's his human name?” Levi had asked, keeping his distance from the nervous family.

 

They looked confused and guarded, but it was Berthold who spoke up. “What do you mean?”

 

Hanji stepped up with their hands on their hips and a smile brighter than daylight. “You can't expect us to call him ‘baby’ forever, can you?” They widened their grin. “So, have you decided on a human name yet; or do you need help?”

 

Annie’s eyes were widened to the size of dinner plates for the entirety of their conversation, but it was only then that she had understood what the aquarium had done. 

 

The circus had never allowed Annie to keep any of the eggs that somehow managed to survive. They were soon sold off, sometimes before they had even hatched, and Annie and her mates were left watching their nameless children be taken away with their new masters.

 

Not this time.

 

Now, Annie, Berthold and Reiner were allowed to keep their fryling and raise him as their own. Now they could start a family. Now, they could name their son.

 

“Marcel,” Annie said quietly. 

 

Reiner and Berthold looked to one another before they nestled closer to her at the mention of their old friend, remembering how Marcel had been imprisoned in the circus right alongside them, and had been a loyal friend to all three of the mer… all the way up to the bitter end. The moment his name left Annie’s lips, the decision was unanimous, and no further thought was needed. 

 

Annie took their agreement and confirmed it to the humans for good. “His name is Marcel.”

 

\---

 

Time passed quickly. Much, much too quickly. The frylings grew more and more every day, all happy and healthy. Baby scales fell off only to be replaced by skin, fangs grew in with what felt like years of teething, and claws strengthened with every passing scratch. Before long, the frylings were learning how to breathe above water, and then the real work began.

 

The team worked hard to limit as much human contact with the babies as they could so that they could be released to the wild once they had come of age, but the bond they shared made it all the more difficult as the days passed by. They all knew the day would come for goodbye, and they all knew it would be hard, but that couldn't stop the love that grew within the walls of Shingeki Aquatic Hospital. 

 

Each day since learning how to use their lungs, the frylings learned how to be efficient hunters, what dangers to look for and what to do in the event of those dangers happening to them. They played together to strengthen their skills and stealth, and even took the time to learn about the subtleties in the differing tribes cultures. 

 

Now the time had come.

 

Everyone had come to see Marcel, Sonny and Bean off with their mothers. Sasha was eager to introduce her young to her father and the rest of the tribe, and would not stop telling her boys stories of each individual tribe mate. For Annie and her family, it had been so long since they had seen any open water that all they could do was gape at their surroundings as Annie held Marcel close to her chest.

 

The mers reaction to the beautiful landscaping had brought a smile to the volunteer group, but Connie had shone brighter than them all as he recounted all of the hard work on the pond and surrounding area, knowing with the most certainty that not a single moment had been wasted in in it's restoration. 

 

Annie was let into the pond first after making sure Marcel was safely tucked in Reiner’s arms. Her own father had been instructed to come to the release in order to see Sasha's new frylings, however, he had not been informed of Annie’s return, nor of her new family. It was agreed that telling the mer before any chance of her safe return would actually be a cruelty, and therefore, Annie’s existence at the hospital was kept from her family for their own sake. So when Annie’s father saw her enter the pond, Annie was dragged down into the water for several, long minutes for a much needed hug. It took a few more minutes for Annie to explain her situation, and as soon as he heard of Marcel, Annie’s father shot up above the water to see his new grandson and son-in-laws. There wasn't a dry eye in sight.

 

Sasha was next and much quicker in her reunion. Her father was overjoyed at the return of his daughter, and churned the water into rough ripple as he waited just as anxiously as Maman did for their new grandguppies to enter the pond.

 

Sonny and Bean splashed around in their tanks excitedly all the way up until they were hoisted out on stretchers, and even then, they chittered to Hanji and Levi their many, many,  _ many _ questions about the outside world and demanded that the two humans come and visit as often as possible. They had talked so much, so fast that they hadn't even realized the change in water as they were lowered into the pond, and were- quite loudly- surprised when their grandparents came up to hold them close with smiles brighter than the sun. It wasn’t until Sasha had dragged her father away to prepare their new nest that things between the new family had quieted down, and the ever inquisitive boys voiced their curiosities more seriously as reality fell upon them.

 

“Why can't everyone else come?” Sonny whined. “I wanted to play with Sina and Auntie Ymir some more.”

 

“And Moblit, too!” Bean added. “And Maria, and Historia, and-”

 

“You'll be able to see them through the website,” Jean chided, but held his mother close as she thought of the same questions. “Historia and the others are going to Australia with their own tribes.”

 

Sonny tilted his head in confusion. “But I thought this was your tribe; why are you going too?”

 

“Yeah,” Bean piped. “How come Historia gets to be a princess and we don't?”

 

Jean smiled to his sons and gently let go of his mother to hold Sonny when he came up instead. “I'm going so that I can help your brothers and sisters get used to their new home in Australia. Some will be living with Auntie Christa and Ymir, some will be living with Auntie Ilse and some will be living with Pappa Marco and his family. I want to make sure everyone goes off safely and likes their new home.” He stopped to look at his mother fondly, but still spoke to his sons. “I'd also like to meet your aunts and say a proper hello to my new family in Australia as well.”

 

Sonny frowned. “What about us?”

 

Jean chuckled and ruffled Sonny’s hair. “I'll be back again soon. I promise.”

 

“No, not that!” Sonny whined, and Bean came up beside his brother to clarify.

 

“Why do you get to see more family and not us?” Bean asked.

 

Their father pondered this thought for a moment, humming to the sky to add to the effect before looking back down to his children. “So you're saying you  _ don't  _ want to help look after nana and poppa?”

 

The twins jumped up with wide eyes and a loud protest at once.

 

“That's not it!”

 

“Yeah, we'll protect them!”

 

“We just want to protect the others too!”

 

“And be princesses!”

 

Jean laughed fondly at their answers and beamed at his two sons. “Maybe when you're older,” he grinned. “You can ask Historia for tips.”

 

Satisfied with their father's answer, Sonny and Bean squealed with delight and tackled Jean into a rather violent hug. Jean laughed through it even as he stumbled back in the water, happy to have given his twins a chance to grapple with him one last time before goodbye. Then, when the time came, Sonny and Bean held on a little too tight for a little too long, and Jean was no better.

 

When they finally let go and the boys promised to behave for the family, Jean turned to his mother. Maman held Jean just as tightly when he bid her farewell as well. “You stay safe, guppy,” she whispered. “Promise me.”

 

“I promise, mom,” Jean whispered, then took her hands in his own to look her in the eye. “I'll be back next season. Just ask Connie anytime you want to talk with me before then, alright?”

 

Maman nodded and held her son’s face in her hand for a moment to memorize Jean’s face. Jean studied his mother for the same reason, but nosed against her temple after a few minutes and promised once again to return home soon. Once his new family had properly settled into the pond without him, Jean left to head for the aquarium. 

 

Marco was waiting for him when Jean had returned. The spots were getting ready for the plane ride to Australia, and the children simply could not sit still at the very thought of seeing their new home. The team bustled around frantically as they prepared to move each of the mer through safe travels, but with one emotional goodbye down, some quality bonding time was needed.

 

Levi and Hanji easily made their way over to where Christa and Historia were sitting with Ymir on a stone landing and joined in on the conversation. Moblit had instantly crawled up into Hanji’s lap for a desperately needed cuddle session between the two and frowned at the tears already forming in the human’s eyes, but neither of them could stop the smiles that popped up each time they remembered that this parting would bring only happiness in the future.

 

Meanwhile, Rosie crooned under Levi’s tender head scratches as Ymir rambunctiously recanted stories of the mer’s future home in Australia. As this happened, Ilse and her children listened in the water across from Ymir with rapt attention. Marco noticed Jean’s appearance and quietly slipped from the stone landing and into the water to greet his mate, but the action brought one fryling’s attention away from Ymir.

 

“Pappa Jean!” Historia squealed as she swam up to his arms. “Momma Ymir is telling us about Australia! Are we really going to go live there?”

 

Jean smiled to his daughter and pressed his nose to her forehead. “We are. You excited?” He smiled brighter as Historia nodded her head enthusiastically, but she paused after a moment with a frown. Jean prodded her again with his nose. “What is it, guppy?”

 

The fryling frowned harder through her thoughts, but eventually found the words she wanted. “What about Sonny and Bean and Marcel? And Auntie Sasha too; why couldn't they come?”

 

Jean combed his fingers through blonde hair, softening his smile to his daughter. “You belong with your mother and her people,” he explained gently. “Besides, it's not like you'll never see them again, right?”

 

Big, golden eyes stared up at Jean. “You promise?”

 

“Promise,” Jean said, then nuzzled his daughter into a hug. “Now go back to Momma Ymir; I'm sure she's got a lot more stories to tell.”

 

Historia beamed with delight as she swam back to float alongside Sina and Ilse under the loving gazes of Jean and Marco. Marco smiled just as softly as Jean did and wrapped his mate in a tender embrace with a contented hum, nibbling lightly on the mate mark along Jean’s neck. Jean shivered at the touch but leaned his head back against Marco’s shoulder, still smiling at his family while he shared the moment with Marco.

 

“Who would have thought I'd have ended up with an actual princess for a daughter?” Jean asked.

 

“Or any children at all,” Marco chuckled.

 

The two stayed quiet for a few minutes, soaking in the wonderful sight before them with blissful awareness, and Marco had to hold back memories of instances where he had once believed a family never to be possible. He closed his eyes with a frown as he failed, and worried over memories of a desolate creek and dying landscape before reminding himself of the restored land that he would return to. Finally, after so long, Marco could see his tribe again, and in a healthy environment no less. He turned his attention to Jean as his thoughts pieced together the reality that Jean would be giving up the exact same thing in order to leave with Marco.

 

“Are you sure about this?” Marco asked quietly. “About Australia?”

 

Jean nodded without pause. “Absolutely,” he said. “We'll be back next season anyways. Besides,” Jean turned to look his mate in the eye, the smile on his lips reaching his own eyes easily. “It's about time I see the rest of my family.”

 

Marco smiled as well and hugged Jean tighter from behind. “ _ Our _ family,” he corrected.

 

“Right,” Jean chuckled, then turned back to look out over the creatures that lived comfortably together as one, legs and tails alike. “Our family.”

  
  
  
  


~~ THE END ~~

 

Fin~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S OVER OH NO WHAT DO?
> 
> I know I say this a lot but if you wait a little bit, I'll have more :] Thank you guys so much for sticking with me all the way to the end on this little adventure of mine. Your kudos and comments really make my day. I have a bunch of doodles to share on here as well but they're all on tumblr and i have to find the links so even more waiting yaaaaomgIloveyouguysandyourpatientselvesforputtingupwithmeI'msosorryT-Taaaaaaaay... *cough* in the meantime, if you have any fan art that you want to share or want to look for it on tumblr, use the tag Fresh Out of Water or look for me here: 
> 
> tumblr.com/smitty-mouse
> 
> all Fresh pics will be located there as will pics of my other stories which you are all welcome to read as well.
> 
>  
> 
> Once again, thank you guys so much for everything, you really make me smile, and i hope I got the chance to do the same for you :]

**Author's Note:**

> Da-da-da-DAAA! Super Marco, to the rescue!
> 
> I promise things will be more cutesy and fluffy from hereon out. I do like the drama but fluff is just as enjoyable. This is also my way of apologizing for not posting anything in March due to my busy schedule. Hope you enjoy!


End file.
